


the music in me

by cookiethewriter



Series: the music in me [1]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst, Bickering, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:53:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 61,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26045311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiethewriter/pseuds/cookiethewriter
Summary: Nominated for "Best Angst" in Feudal Connections 2021 Q1 Inuyasha Fandom Awards!...Had his story ended there, he might have faded into obscurity, letting his passion fade into pitch darkness like the rest of him. But it doesn’t, and against his best attempts, neither does he.And it was all thanks to thatdamnwoman and herdamnsmile.or: kagome higurashi starts her new job as a teacher's aide, where she meets a bunch of colorful characters, including someone who seems familiar to her ... and, what's that about the music program?[updates every other wednesday!]
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Miroku/Sango (InuYasha)
Series: the music in me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101329
Comments: 112
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! long time no see, inuyasha fandom. 
> 
> this is an upcycled idea i had from my previous fandom!! i'm changing some things to accommodate my current needs, and the characters i'm using, and voila! you all get to sit back and relax in a world of my creation! 
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: mentions of underage drinking and drug use. 
> 
> a note before we start! ...my research has been light when it comes to teacher's aides, and i'm mostly adjusting it to match my canon. don't come for me - this is my official disclaimer! i also don't own inuyasha or the characters, but the story and idea are mine.

No one should have fallen that hard, that fast, right before they were slated to start working on their self-proclaimed ‘best album yet’. And yet, everyone had seen the fall coming, like it had been a stone collecting muck on the way down a very slippery, very _destructive_ slope. 

Everyone saw it coming, but the guy falling.

To think, this had all started in one of his neighbors’ garages; he was dragged to the guy’s house by his mother, who knew the kid’s parents. She had thought he could stand to spend time with kids his own age. Her heart had been in the right place.

It had been all over for him the minute his hand clasped the microphone stand.

The fall had started with his manager, who managed to bail on him when times got tough, leading him down irreparably damaging roads that a kid his age should never have had to navigate by himself. The guy was a good manager as far as business was concerned, but he wasn’t a reliable guy on a personal level, making excuses instead of finding solutions. Definitely not a role model any teenager should have had. 

It had continued, _snow-balled_ , when he had entered an exclusive and not-so-secret secret relationship with an older woman, who had only further fucked up his life with the introduction of alcohol binges between shows - “ _If they’re treating you like an adult, surely you can take the edge off like one._ ” - and some other unholy rituals that had only contributed to the rest of his downward spiral. 

She had scarred him, and when it was all over, she had disappeared. 

His music had suffered along with him, his voice unintelligible and angry. They had been a cover band at first, not looking for stardom in his friends’ garage. Their first album had been a combination of things, of covers and songs written for them to match their look, which was mostly some sort of hard rock/pop hybrid. He’d branched out enough between his first album and first official tour, learning how to play piano and guitar, writing every word he had ever thought or felt down in a ratty miniature notebook. By the time his second album was in production, he was feeling so many awful, sad things ... especially after he’d lost his mother in a terrible car accident. 

After that, he turned to more unfavorable means to get him through the shows. He had gotten his hands on some hard stuff courtesy of that _woman_ , something that set off alarms in his head that sadly went unnoticed because of his stupid _love_ for her. It had knocked him on his ass readily; after his mother’s passing, he had stopped sleeping, eating, and feeling anything. 

On his second tour was when everything went wrong. 

Before his third show, he had taken to drinking the hard stuff - stomach empty, sleep-deprived, a poor combination of things to be before alcohol - to get rid of the jittery feeling all over his body. It was one of the worst ways he’d ever been in, his band mates having to all but carry him off the bus. Stubborn and strong, he fought them off. His manager doused him with cold water, not even looking at him but at his phone, and he pushed them all in the direction of the stadium. 

He had wobbled.

When he got out on stage, his hand immediately found the microphone stand, his fingers taking ages to clasp around the microphone. The combination of his drunkenness, weak stomach, cold and clammy skin, and the noise and _smell_ of the closed auditorium had robbed him of his stability, and he faltered. Gasping, he opens his mouth, only narrowly realizing that the music had started to play. 

What came out wasn’t the first line of one of his hit tracks. With a pinched, pained expression on his face and his hand white-knuckling the microphone, he whispers a small “ _Help--_ ” before he collapses. 

Plenty of rumors had circulated in and around the music industry: some people said he was forcibly checked into a rehabilitation center, while others said he had died that night in the hospital. Whatever the story, he had simply fallen off the face of the earth. Not a single person could talk about the fall of kings in the music industry and not talk about the fate of the Prince of the West, and for that, he would forever be remembered in infamy, just like everyone said he would. 

_ Heh. Go figure. _

Had his story ended there, he might have faded into obscurity, letting his passion fade into pitch darkness like the rest of him. But it doesn’t, and against his best attempts, neither does he. 

And it was all thanks to that _damn_ woman and her _damn_ smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new teacher starts her first day, and a certain half-demon is late for his. 
> 
> CHAPTER WARNING: brief mention of mugging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! it's time for this thing to get started for real! i hope y'all like it!
> 
> (disclaimer1: i don't own inuyasha, kagome, or the rest of the characters. this story and its plot, however, are mine.  
> disclaimer2: although a 'teacher's aide/paraeducator/teacher's assistant' is a real job, i did light research and am taking creative liberties to fit my canon.)

The screech of the chain-link fence gate opening draws the attention of some of the children playing on the swing set nearby as a young woman steps onto the playground, and with a soft click, the gate is locked right back in place again; it was the first day of a brand new school year, and that meant the prospect of new beginnings for everyone on campus. The woman’s green skirt swishes as she walks with an air of determination toward the heavy front doors of the esteemed human and demon school. 

Kagome Higurashi had been grateful to find a teaching job a month after finishing college, and was eager to get started with her dream job; since she was young, she’d wanted to be a teacher just like her mother, now retired but taking substitute teaching gigs every now and then. She had grown up with a kid brother, Sota, having been a little older when he was born, so she knew she had the mental capacity to deal with young kids. It was time now to test if all the practice really made perfect.

Plus, she would like to think that she had her mother’s patience. After all, raising a teenager at the same time as a young child couldn’t have been easy for her, and  _ then _ helping her get to and from work through college so she could finally get a place of her own when the time to do so came around. Kagome couldn’t speak highly enough of her mother, and was eternally grateful for everything she’d done for her and Sota.

Now, on her own, she was excited to start her new life. 

When the big door swings closed behind her, Kagome takes a deep breath; the main hallway stretched all the way down to the other side of the school, and almost a third of the way down, it branched left to right. The entrance was wider than the rest of the hallway, and had two doors on the left side - the first labeled ‘SUPPLY’ and the second labeled ‘NURSE’ - and one on the right, labeled ‘OFFICE’. Walking with purpose toward the main office door, she raises her knuckles to knock upon the open door. 

“Excuse me, I’m--” 

“Kagome Higurashi, correct?” 

Kagome turns around at the voice and sighs in relief; Kaede Honda was the co-founder and principal of the school and gazed at her with a friendly look in her eyes … or, well, eye. She had lost her right eye in an accident as a girl, and the story of the demon doctor who saved her and treated her without an ounce of prejudice was well-known in not only the teaching world, but the world of human and demon relations. It was because of Kaede and her sister that they even offered classes that focused on such at her university, which she had taken enthusiastically despite her mother’s concerns. 

(Not that her mother disliked demons, since there had been enough people in most recent times who had gone above and beyond to try to make the world easier and more tolerant between the two species. But her mother would always be her mother.)

Kagome’s face brightens immediately in recognition. “Yeah, that’s me! I’m thrilled to meet you!” 

“The feeling is mutual, my child,” Ms. Honda smiles. “Your marks in university were impressive, and I was enthusiastic to get you on our team when I saw your interests in human and demon relations. Tell me, do you have experience with demon children?” 

“Well…” 

When she was younger, maybe 5 or 6, she had played with a boy every once in a while. They lived across the road from each other for a while, but he didn’t come outside very often on account of his being a demon living on a human street. When her brother was born a few years later, they needed to move into a bigger house, especially because her grandfather was going to be coming to live with them too. 

It had been a long time since she’d thought about that. 

_ I wonder how he’s doing? _

“I grew up with one." It wasn't a _total_ lie, she reasoned with herself. " And not only that, but when I was going to university, I took up babysitting jobs often, and some of the kids were demon children.” That was true, and she had enjoyed her time doing that until she needed to focus more on her studies. She still talked to their parents from time to time and saw them at the grocery store. “My studies were primarily centered around wanting to be someone who could help students on a more personal, one-on-one level, and I figured that would be more centered around demon children.” 

Society still tried to keep it a secret that demon children were victims of abuse and bullying at a far higher rate than human children, and proceeded to punish them later in life when the roads they took were in part because of the refusal to help them. That had awakened a  _ fire _ in Kagome, a natural caretaker, and was the second reason she had picked this school above other ones she’d seen. 

“Aye, that is correct, unfortunately,” Ms. Honda crossed her arms behind her back and started to walk out into the hall. Kagome followed, obediently following the request to follow without it being given, and she walked beside the older woman. “I have always striven to breach the gap between humans and our demon counterparts. But it is usually the fault of the human children’s  _ parents _ that bias often finds its way onto my school’s grounds. It is terrible. We offer as much counseling as we are legally able, but with the help of aides like you and the couple of others, it has made transitions easier on the part of the demon youngsters. I am grateful to have someone like you here,” she repeats the last part with a bit of a fire in the words, like she’s become a new version of determined just to match Kagome’s own feelings. It’s a nice feeling, to walk on the same moral road as someone like Kaede Honda. 

“The full tour of the school will have to wait for another day, I’m afraid, because I have to rush off to a faculty meeting before school starts. If you don’t mind being thrown to the wolves, so to speak, off the bat, I do have a class that could use your attention and care. I suppose I can walk you there and introduce you to Mr. Takayama. I do warn you, though, he can be a bit aloof, and has an absolutely  _ wolfish _ grin about him.” 

Kagome nods her head. “Got it. I’m happy to help.” 

The two make their way up a flight of stairs off the side of the main hallway, and Kagome’s immediately met with the musky smell of a well-used carpet. There was a hint of something sweet underneath it, like they had tried to clean the carpet, but there was no completely masking the scent completely. It doesn’t bother her that much, except giving her a feeling of nostalgia, remembering her schools having something similar. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a smooth wooden door with a big glass window peeking inside, and she watched Kaede knock a wrinkly hand on the side of it before opening the door. 

As soon as they walked in, she took in as much of the classroom as she could: the whiteboard ran along the same wall as the door and had stuff written on it already, with a long wooden desk right across from the door, where a man - she presumed he was the teacher - was on a clunky-looking laptop. Desks she had expected to be stretched out in rows were pushed together in groups of four, all facing each other so all the chairs could see the white board. There was an area in the back that had shelves of books, drawing paper, lined paper and one cubby dedicated to art supplies. In the back-right corner was a gray area rug, a couch and a couple of plush-looking chairs, and another small table. On the back-left corner was a sink and a couple of empty counters with a couple of cabinets above. Ms. Honda leads her right up to the desk, where the man doesn’t notice them.

“Mr. Takayama, I’ve brought you the aide I told you about.” 

“Great, thanks, old woman- oh.” 

Kagome gives him a cheery smile, which makes his piercing blue eyes widen and lips part in a slight ‘o’; Koga Takayama’s focus was on teaching the younger students the basics of subjects like math, English and social studies and was known for not so much being strict as he was a little rough around the edges. However, as he gazed at her like that, Kagome didn’t get even a fraction of that from him. She could see, underneath pieces of his dark hair that were slipping out from his neat ponytail, he had pointed ears, and she could only discern then that he was a demon. 

... _ wolfish _ grin. Was he a wolf demon?

“Good morning,” he croaks out to her, walking over, and in a way that makes a faint blush appear on her cheeks, clasping both of her hands in his. “I’m so pleased to meet you.” 

“I’m … happy to meet you, too!” 

“Koga, if you could rein in your aura, please.” She sees Mr. Takayama - Koga - visibly deflate a little before letting go of her hands and crossing his arms. Ms. Honda hums thoughtfully. “Miss Higurashi is here to assist with Shippo.” Then, she looks back at Kagome. “Shippo is a young fox demon who is very hyperactive and, at the request of his parents, might need a little extra attention. Since you are one of the more experienced aides as far as demons, I decided you might fit in with Mr. Takayama’s class for the time being.”

Kagome nods. So, her first task was to help a little fox boy named Shippo.  _ He sounds so cute! _

“I’m happy to help!” She was. 

Mr. Takayama nods his head and reaches over his desk to grab a manila folder that had some papers sticking out of the tab. “I have a meeting later today with him, the guidance counselor and his parents to discuss their concerns in full detail, but until it gets straightened out, I think he might benefit from partial one-on-one learning." Handing her the folder carefully, she takes it, pressing it to her chest with a nod. "We'll be starting lessons next week, and in there are the assignments for the term and his schedule. I hope you’ll be able to follow them.” 

He hadn’t meant it that way, but Kagome couldn’t help but feel a little offended by his question, like he was doubting her. Trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice - but obviously not able to keep the annoyed tick out of her eye - she says carefully, “I’ll follow them fine, thanks.” 

Nodding with a slight look of apology on his face, he hands her the folder. “I apologize if I upset you, Miss Higurashi.” 

His apology calms her slightly, and she takes a deep breath. “No, it’s fine. And outside of school hours, you can call me Kagome.” 

“Okay,” he says gently. “I’m Koga.”

Her smile is a little tight, but she’ll get over it. “Nice to meet you, Koga.” 

“Well, since introductions are taken care of, I’m going to head off to the meeting. Are you coming, Mr. Takayama?”

Koga says a soft goodbye to Kagome, taking her hands in his again, before he steps around her and opens the door for the two women to walk out of. As the other two walk in the other direction, Kagome breathes a sigh before looking behind her at the opposite side of the hallway; there were a few more doors and another wing down the left side, and lockers on the right side leading up to it before it switches to lockers on the left to make room for more doors. The school was a lot bigger than it looked outside, and she was interested to see more of it. 

Pushing up the sleeve of her cardigan to check her watch - a gift to herself for all her hard work - she discerns that she has about 20 minutes until the first bell rings. “Well, time to get a head start on these lessons...” 

* * *

“Yo! Time to get your ass off my couch, half-breed!” 

With a groan, dark lashes flutter open, glaring out at the sunshine coming in through the big window right in front of his face. He notices with great delay that his phone’s alarm is blaring on the end table above his head, and his body jolts up, displacing the jacket he had worn the night before that he’d used as a blanket; he was supposed to be at his new job in 15 minutes, he noted with slight panic, and even if he left now he would still be late.

Dragging a hand down his face - and watching his sharp claws so he wouldn’t leave cuts over his face,  _ again _ \- he does his best to ignore the pounding in his head as he spins himself off the cheap couch and reaches for his phone to turn off the alarm; the night before had been about as fun as a car wreck, and he’d had to spend the night with his old roommate Bankotsu because his apartment was too far away for the damage he has taken. It wasn’t  _ his _ fault he was mugged and practically left for dead until his ex-roommate happened to find him lying on the ground. 

Such was the life of a  _ half-breed _ . 

The headache was nowhere near as bad as he’d had in the past, and the pain in his side from the blunt edge of the knife was merely a dull ache now. At least his injuries were nowhere near bad enough to not heal. 

“Yeah, well, it ain’t that comfortable anyway,” he grumbles, rubbing at his back for emphasis as Bankotsu stands in front of his front door. They didn’t dislike each other by any means, just had a very … interesting friendship, complete with constant bickering.

Bankotsu rolls his eyes. “Yeah, well, next time don’t get stabbed. If you bled all over my already crummy couch, I’m making you buy me a new one.” 

Meeting his former-roommate’s gaze, he sees a grin, and with a smirk, he waves a clawed hand in front of him to wave him off. “Fuck off.” The two share mutual chuckles and grins before Bankotsu grabs his car keys, which jiggle in his fingers. 

“You gonna be able to drive back? And, don’t you have somewhere to be?” 

“Yeah.” To both questions. Shrugging and slipping his jacket over one shoulder, he started walking toward the door, grabbing his own keys that were hanging beside where Bankotsu’s were. “Damn, there’s no way I can make it home in time to--”

“Make yourself look a quarter-way decent?”

All he responds with is a little growl and a slash of his claws that Bankotsu dodges easily. He was never going to make contact, anyway. 

“Try not to get stabbed, will ya?” he calls, walking to his fancy sports car that glistened bright under the morning sun. Covering his face with his hand to block out the bright light, he walks to his truck and opens the driver’s door. “And, let’s go out this weekend or something. Catch up.” 

As he gets himself into the seat and closes the door, he leans out the open window, flashing a ‘thumbs up’. “Yeah, yeah. Just text me or whatever.” 

“Right. See ya, Inuyasha.” 

Inuyasha flashes a fangy grin in response, turns his key in the ignition, before backing up out of the driveway and turning onto the main road toward the big, fancy school just outside of town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a note: the school is something of a private/selective school for humans and demons alike, and goes all the way to the end of middle school. kagome's job focuses more on the younger students.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome meets a couple of students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda still in the introductions phase of things, but don't worry. we'll get to the bits you want sooner or later. c: hope you enjoy!
> 
> (disclaimer1: i don't own inuyasha or any of the characters associated with it. this story and its plot are mine.  
> disclaimer2: although a 'teacher's aide/paraeducator/teacher's assistant' is a real job, i did light research and am taking creative liberties to fit my canon.)

The first classes of the day seemed to zoom by her; Mr. Takayama - Koga - had introduced her to the rest of his class and, more specifically, to Shippo, who was already starting to distract the rest of the students by practicing fox magic. The little flames were a vibrant green and danced in his palms, but it seemed that he had control over it. After Koga spoke to him in a short, gruff voice to put the magic away and get ready to start, Kagome felt her heart clench at the dejected look on his face.

Once attendance was taken and Mr. Takayama starts with introductions and leads the class through the syllabus for the semester, Kagome gets up and walks over to Shippo’s table; it was just him and a couple of human girls, who were obviously a little shaken up by the fake snake trick he’d just done, and she felt for them since she wasn’t too big a fan of snakes either. But she wasn’t here to sympathize with the girls. Taking the seat next to Shippo and ignoring the surprised look on all three children’s faces, she gives him a cheery smile before taking out the folder and a notebook to jot down some class notes. 

“Hi!” she says, just loud enough for Shippo and the girls to hear. “Is it okay if I sit here?” 

While the girls start to nod and giggle enthusiastically, Shippo eyes her warily, and she doesn’t blame him an ounce for that; she can sense that maybe he knows what her intentions were, good as they might be, but the look on his face gives away that he thought he might be in trouble. Which, he wasn’t, at least not yet … though if Ko- Mr. Takayama’s annoyed tone was anything to go by, it was only a matter of time before that would be the case. It was time to diffuse.

_Just who am I diffusing here?_

While Mr. Takayama wraps up his explanation of the syllabus and writes the name of the first lesson on the whiteboard, Kagome huddles closer to Shippo, ducking her head a little. “I saw you doing magic. You’re very good. Have you always known how?” 

“Father taught me. Everyone in our family could do fox magic.” Blinking, Shippo looks down at his hands. Kagome gets the feeling that there’s something he’s leaving out, and she smiles a little. “I guess school isn’t the place to do it, right?” 

“Maybe not in class,” she responds helpfully. “But at recess, I’d love to see more. It’s only two more subjects away. Think you could show me then?” 

The way Shippo seems to brighten at her request makes asking all the more worth it, and Kagome grins right back. It certainly keeps him focused for the time being, looking at the white board as Mr. Takayama writes down the due date for the first major project the class is going to be doing: a ‘get to know me’ art project, complete with pictures and a brief introductory paragraph. The students were encouraged to bring in pictures of themselves and their likes and interests to help Mr. Takayama - and her - get to know everyone.

She was even encouraged to do it too. 

The first, then second, hour with Shippo goes by quickly. The two of them take up a spot at the table in the back-right corner of the room to help him focus. His second subject is math - she shudders, remembering how much _she_ hated math - and he ends up struggling a little. Although she still feels deeply that math was personally sent from hell, she at least could do this much, and once he seemed to understand it, she got up and excused herself so she could go to the restroom. 

The hallway was quiet, students all tucked away in their classrooms. She can vaguely hear teachers talking inside the doors she passed, and she guaranteed that maybe only half of the students were actually paying attention. Most first days of school didn’t involve any new material, anyway.

Turning into the girl’s bathroom and stepping into the closest stall, she takes advantage of her slight break and takes out her phone, unlocking it so she can scroll through her notifications. There was a text from her mother wishing her good luck, as well as from one of her friends from school who she still kept in touch with every once in a while. They should go out for drinks this weekend or something. She punches out a few responses, and when she’s finished her business and makes her way out of the stall to wash her hands and freshen herself up, she glances up at her reflection in the mirror.

Her hair was black and long over her shoulders, cascading in soft waves onto the short sleeves of her simple white blouse. She was wearing sparse make-up, just some pink lip gloss and a little mascara. It wasn’t like she was looking to pick up anybody at a _school_ , so she didn’t see the point of doing much more than this. 

Cupping some cool water into her palms, she splashes it lightly onto her face and taps at her cheeks. _So far, so great!_

Sufficiently refreshed, Kagome spins away from the mirror and pulls down a couple of paper towels from the dispenser. Drying her hands off and using the paper towels to open the bathroom door - she wasn’t a germaphobe or anything, but one could never be too careful - she slips out of the bathroom and tosses the paper towel into a nearby trash can. 

As she walks on down the hallway back toward the classroom, she sees someone down the hall, their back to her. Their hair, silvery-white and _long_ , falls down their back in a low ponytail, and she can see a little bit of a pink bandana wrapped around their head. They were wearing a simple red coverall, their sleeves rolled up to expose strong forearms and slightly-tanned skin, like they spent a lot of time outside. The person was standing at the far end of the hall she needed to walk down, and her feet carry her down before she has the ability to tell them to head back to class. 

She didn’t remember seeing a person like that before, not at the teacher’s orientation _or_ the student orientation last week. Maybe janitors didn’t go to those, though she was sure she would have run into them at some point. Shrugging her shoulders as her fingers find purchase on the door handle, she steps back into the door, making sure it doesn’t slam as it closes again. 

* * *

The sound of mean laughter carries across the playground and right into Kagome’s ears; she had sat and watched Shippo show her four magic tricks before he was invited to play tag with some other children, which left her sitting on a bench reading through the notes she’d taken earlier. When she hears the laughter - almost exclusively laughing _at_ someone - she immediately looks up and swivels her head back and forth. 

Her eyes settle upon a group of four human children surrounding a little girl, her hair light and skin tan. From where she’s sitting, she can see tears glistening down her face, which was caked in mud and something else that had her immediately abandoning her post at the bench and jogging over to the scene. The closer she got to the girl, the more she realized what it was they were saying to the poor girl. 

“ _Half breed!_ ”

Running on pure instinct, Kagome slots herself right in between the other children and their target, who she can feel start to duck behind her legs. “I think it’s time each of you go off and play before I personally escort all of you to Principal Honda’s office.” 

One by one, the kids scurry off, not wanting to get in trouble on their first day of school. Satisfied - and positive that she had memorized their faces in case anything like this happened again - she turns around and kneels in front of the girl, who was now openly weeping into the backs of her hands. Kagome notes with an ache in her heart that her palms were scratched up and red, her knees scraped up too, and her beautiful light-blue dress was dirty. Humming to herself, she holds out a hand for the little girl. “Do you want me to bring you to the nurse’s office?” 

The little girl stops crying for a moment, sniffling, her lower lip trembling slightly. “N-No. I want my … m-my mommy.” 

Kagome frowns. “Why don’t we go see if Principal Honda has her number?” 

The little girl nods, taking Kagome’s hand and holding on tightly. Standing back up again, she carefully starts walking back toward the school’s side entrance. “So, what’s your name?” 

“...Shiori.” The little girl said it in a whisper. Kagome committed that to memory, too. 

The side door was closer to the part of the playground they were in, and she reaches to pull the door open only for it to open from the inside, and she takes a few steps back and to the side to let the person come out. 

_It’s … him!_

The person who steps out is wearing red coveralls and has white hair hanging in a low ponytail, but now she can see their full face and … _wow_. His eyes were round and amber-gold, the bridge of his nose pinched slightly, his lips turned in a slight scowl up until he noticed her, then his face completely morphed to surprise. 

He … looked _so_ familiar. 

“You goin’ in?” he says in a voice that sounds like he’s talking around a throat of gravel. Kagome nods her head. 

“Yeah, thanks so much. Come on, Shiori, in here.” 

Kagome and Shiori duck inside, the former flashing a grateful smile over her shoulder just before the door closes. The two girls walked down the hall together; the further they walked, the more Shiori seemed to calm down, and her speed became less urgent as they rounded into the main hall. 

“He’s like me,” Shiori says softly, almost too softly that Kagome isn’t sure she heard what the little girl had said. Pausing, she looks down and smiles inquiringly.

“What do you mean?” 

Shiori has a thoughtful look on her face and turns back toward the side hallway where they’d just come from. Then, she looks back at Kagome. 

“That man … he’s like me.” 

Kagome isn’t sure what she means, so she fishes. “What, cute?” 

The compliment makes Shiori giggle. “No. A half-demon.” 

Casting her a curious look, Kagome feels her head tilt slightly in confusion. She’s about to ask how she knew that when she hears shoes squeaking on the tile floor, and she looks up to find Kaede looking at them with a worried expression. 

“Oh, Shiori, child,” her voice conveys that she already knows what happened, and she reaches out a comforting hand to rest on the top of the girl’s head. “Should I call your mother to have her come and get you?” 

Shiori makes a thoughtful face before shaking her head. “No. I want to stay.” 

Kaede smiles. “I’m happy to hear that. Why doesn’t Miss Higurashi take you back outside? There’s still plenty of time to play yet.” As she says this, she looks at Kagome, who nods her head in understanding. 

As the two girls head back outside, they don’t see the person leaning pretty heavily on the outside of the fence near the side entrance, watching Kagome lead Shiori back to the bench she had been sitting on and helping her get onto it. She pulled her bag up to her side and took out a first aid kit, where she proceeded to wrap her hands in bandages and wipe her knees off with an antiseptic wipe. Shiori comments that the smell of the wipe bothers her nose, and Kagome promises that she’d look for some unscented - or, at least better smelling - wipes. The two girls giggle with each other and Shiori gives Kagome a big hug before going off to play nearby. 

_She looks … familiar_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome investigates the sound of someone in the music room. inuyasha goes weak at the sight of a piano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, everybody! (or, i guess, the few people who are reading this, lmao) i hope this finds you at a point in your day where you can sit and relax. not just for the sake of reading it, of course. which, i'm very happy to announce that this is the installment where our favorite dog and priestess meet!! (even if kagome isn't a priestess in this story, lmao) 
> 
> onto the chapter!

The final bell rings throughout the halls, which are suddenly flooded with children trying to get out the door. The day had managed to blur after a while, and although she knew for a  _ fact _ that this would probably be one of the  _ easiest _ days of the scholastic year, she also knew that for a lot of the students - and for her, too - this was the first time ever being at the school. 

Throughout the day, she’d gotten to meet two of the other teacher’s aides: Sango Mushin, who was a couple years older than her, spent a lot of her time with the athletics department, which is where they had run into each other. The two had hit it off pretty well, even sat next to each other at lunch and gabbed, and Kagome was glad to leave the first day with a friend who was closer to her age. The other aide she met was a boy named Hojo, who it turned out went to the same high school she did. He was helping out in the library, being both the librarian’s assistant and a tutor for kids who might need it.

As she bade goodbye to Mr. Takayama - Koga, now that the final bell had rung - and headed out the door, she ran into Sango, whose head was angled down as her eyes looked over something on her phone, and Kagome cast her a smile and a wave. 

“Hey there, Sango!” 

“Kagome!” her own face brightened as she smiled back, and she immediately pocketed her phone. “What a day, huh?” 

Stretching her arms out in front of her, Kagome mewls out her exhaustion. “I’ll say. Though I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought. What about you? Got a hot date tonight or something?” 

Sango’s face immediately flushes pink, and Kagome laughs. “I-It’s not like that! Actually, it’s the opposite.” Her shoulders deflate a little and she untucks her pink tee shirt over her black skirt. “My fiance and I were going to go out for date night, but our babysitter canceled.” 

“Oh, sorry about that, that’s too bad.” Kagome’s first instinct was to immediately offer her services, if only to try and make Sango feel better, but it wasn’t like they were best friends already. They got along, sure, but she was sure Sango wouldn’t trust someone she  _ just _ met with her children. If they were even  _ her _ children- yet another thing that she didn’t feel right asking about. “I hope you don’t have to cancel your plans with your fiance completely.” 

Sango’s expression becomes wistful, if not a little sad. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I don’t mind us having a night in, maybe watching a movie when the girls go to sleep.” 

“That sounds nice, at least,” Kagome smiles. “See? Night’s not totally wasted.” 

Sango smiles at her, seemingly feeling better, before asking, “Do you have any plans tonight, Kagome?” 

“Other than making a stop to my mother’s to find some pictures for my class’ ‘get-to-know-me’ project, not really. The only date night I’m gonna have is with leftovers and a rom-com.” 

The two girls share giggles before continuing to walk down the hallway; there was a staircase leading down around the next corner that would take them to the school’s bigger parking lot, which she assumed was where Sango had parked, and the two gabbed and laughed the entire walk to the stairs. When they reached the stairs however, Kagome noticed - for the first time, since she hadn’t gotten to fully explore the school yet - that right off the top of the staircase was an open door that had a narrow hallway, which opened up to a bigger room on the other side. What got her attention wasn’t the door, however, but the sound coming from  _ inside _ of it. Someone was playing the piano. 

“Wow, I guess they  _ did _ find someone.” 

Kagome looks over. “What do you mean, ‘find someone’?”

“Over the summer, I read in the paper that the music teacher retired after the last year,” Sango says calmly, her face also tilted toward the music room. “I thought I saw the article say they weren’t sure who the replacement would be, but I guess they must have found one.”

“Huh…” Kagome takes a couple of tentative steps toward the room before looking at Sango. “I’m going to go check them out - I’m nosy. Enjoy your evening, Sango!” 

“You too, Kagome!” She quickly pulls out her phone and, after pushing a few buttons, hands it over to Kagome. “Put your number in. We’ll make plans soon to hang out.” 

Kagome puts her cell number into Sango’s phone before grinning broadly. “Not only that, but I’ll tell you all about the new teacher. See ya!” 

Waving, Sango heads down the stairs and out of sight. Kagome looks to the music room door and steps into the hallway, curious as to what she would find. 

* * *

It had been a long time since he’d been this close to a piano, which was exactly the way he had meant to go through life. Being a janitor at a school, however, he should have expected that he’d end up in the music room sooner or later. 

When he’d gotten in here, the chairs were in complete disarray, which didn’t surprise him at all. Most of the kids who went here were between the ages of six and ten, and kids that age always had energy in abundance. The older kids were right around the age where they didn’t care enough to put the seats back when it was their turn to use them, which didn’t matter to him. He had to stack them all up so he could vacuum the floor anyway, so it wasn’t like it mattered. As he starts to stack the black chairs by the far wall, one of the legs bumps against a few piano keys, and he pauses. 

A heavy nostalgia settles in his bones; how long had it been since he had played? Entirely too long, if the feeling in his stomach was anything to go by, but would it give him some sort of crazy flashback if he just …  _ no _ . He had learned his lesson, had decided a long time ago that he and music had a very complicated relationship, and he didn’t need to … but he  _ wanted _ to…

_ Maybe… just one song. Everyone’s gone anyway. _

Stepping over to the piano and sitting down on the wooden bench, he first tests his fingerings as he goes up two octaves from middle-C and plunks back down to C, then down two octaves and back up. It felt good, for both his hands and his  _ soul _ to play, to hear  _ himself _ play. Surely he didn’t remember…

Peeking his head over the top of the piano and looking around - and straining to hear through the bandana if anyone was coming in his direction - he relaxes, pursing his lips in thought. Clearing his throat and placing his fingers in the proper place, he starts to play. The chords come back to his mind slowly, but his hands don’t need to rely on that as much, remembering on their own where they need to go, which fingers press which keys, his ears flicking in remembrance under the bandana.

Before he knows it, he’s lost in the feeling of the music, and he doesn’t mean to, but he closes his eyes. 

He plays for a few minutes at least, enough to work his way up to a key-change, when he hears a bewildered voice in front of him breathe, “Wooooooow...”

Slamming his hands on the keys in shock and scrambling to stand up - and slamming the cover over the keys before he can think about it - he stares, wide-eyed, at … the woman from earlier, with that little girl, who he’d let into the school. Seeing her fully now, he sucks his lower lip into his mouth, his fang catching it before it can slip back out with a  _ Pop! _ He can’t  _ believe _ that he got caught. 

He can’t quite find his voice as they look at each other, though gratefully, she is all-too eager to speak first. “That was incredible! You really know your stuff- did you write that?” 

Inuyasha glances this way and that, ultimately failing to find an out that wasn’t jumping out the window. Wincing, he rubs behind his neck, embarrassed. “Something like that. How … long were you standing there?” 

The woman blinks and taps her finger to her chin in thought. “Oh, maybe a few seconds. Long enough to know that you’re  _ really _ talented!” She crosses the room, practically dancing as she walks to stand in front of him, and she holds out her hand in greeting. “I’m Kagome Higurashi, by the way. I think I saw you earlier?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Internally, he cringes at how awkward he sounded, and realizes a couple seconds too late that he should shake her hand. As he does, he asks, “How is she, by the way? That little girl, I mean.” 

“Oh, she’s okay,” her voice suddenly gets this sharpness to it, protective and fiercely so, and for some reason it eases the tension in his body. “Some boys were being mean to her, calling her names. But she--” then, she pauses, her eyes narrowing slightly as if remembering something. When she looks away, then up to his head -  _ the bandana … oh  _ _ shit _ _ , the bandana!  _ \- then back at his face, she clears her throat before she continues. “She ended up being okay.” 

Inuyasha’s eyes narrow slightly. It looked like she wanted to say something, and even if he wasn’t  _ totally _ sure he wanted to hear it, he pressed anyway. “What?” 

Kagome shakes her head. “Oh … it’s nothing. How long have you been playing?” 

“It sure as hell  _ ain’t _ nothing. You have something you wanna say.” 

“Don’t cuss at school!” Looking back and forth, like she was making sure they were alone, she puts her hands on her hips. “It was just something Shiori said to me, that’s all! It’s not important.” 

Scoffing - _ keh _ \- at her, Inuyasha turns his face away. “Yeah, whatever. I gotta get back to work, so if ya don’t mind,  _ Ka-go-me _ .” 

Crossing her arms over her chest and moving out of his way, he starts putting chairs away again. She doesn’t leave right away, just watches him stack the chairs on top of each other in stacks of four before putting them on the bigger piles. Eventually, he notices the row of chairs ahead of him starts to disappear, and he stands up to regard her with a cautious expression. “You don’t have to help.” 

“I might as well,” she said cheerfully. “Don’t have anywhere else to be. Besides, now I have an excuse to get to know you better where I’m not just standing around while you clean.” She starts a new pile to stack her chairs onto, not wanting to put them up too high, and he scoffs again at her. 

“Uh huh. Sure…” 

“So, you never told me your name,” she says simply, a little accusatory, and Inuyasha clears his throat as he goes back to work stacking. He doesn’t respond for a while, which she notices - and he picks up on the way her scent shifts to something like disappointment, and he kicks himself - before he lets out a long sigh. 

“Inuyasha Takahashi.”

As Inuyasha puts the last of his row of chairs in the stack, she finishes with her own row, and she gives him a bright smile that he can’t help but think, not for the first time, that he’s seen before. His chest squeezes a little bit as he tries to find her face in his memories … and fails, ultimately, since he’s had issues trying to remember anything before his mother’s accident. Blinking owlishly down at her, he gets that feeling again that he wants to escape. “What?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I’m just happy to meet you, Inuyasha.” 

“Wh-Whatever.”  _ Nailed it. _

The two quietly continue to work, and he has to admit begrudgingly that they get it done quickly. He refuses to acknowledge that he probably could have done a much faster job by himself if he had tapped into some of that demon quickness he had. When all of the chairs are stacked and out of the way, Inuyasha looks over at Kagome, who has her hands on her hips in triumph. 

“There! All done.”

“Yeah. Now I have to vacuum. So, you can go now.” 

Kagome whirls around on him, hands still on her hips, but the look on her face makes it seem less like victory and more like he should put his hands up to protect himself.  _ Fight the urge, Takahashi. _

“You are  _ so _ welcome, by the way!” 

“Hey, I didn’t  _ ask _ for your help.” 

“Wow, ungrateful  _ and _ rude!” Kagome narrows her eyes, pouts, then spins around to start stalking toward the door. “Well, I’m  _ sorry _ I ruined your quality piano time, and overstayed my welcome  _ apparently _ . I’ll see you later, Inuyasha.” 

As Kagome walks away, Inuyasha reaches his hand out to stop her, almost willing her to stop, but when she disappears down the hall and emits a growl of frustration into the echoing staircase on the other side, he feels … well, he feels like shit. Under the bandana, he can feel his ears lower regretfully, and when her scent fades away he lets out a growl of his own and almost reaches for a chair so he could throw it. Gratefully, he’s able to fight the urge and instead channels his frustration onto the carpeted floor, intent to vacuum to ever-loving  _ shit _ out of it.

He could be so  _ stupid _ sometimes. 

_ Ain’t that the fucking truth. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome goes to her second childhood home to look through some of her mother's photo albums, and has a realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> people were definitely curious about how they seemed to know each other, and this is the chapter you'll find out! i didn't want to give it away, of course. i could never do that. >:D i hope you all enjoy it - i'm quite a bit ahead as far as chapters are concerned, so stay tuned on my tumblr because on SATURDAY 9/12 there'll be a sneak peek of the next chapter going up! that means that ... DING DING DING ... there will be an update next week! yay! 
> 
> thanks to everyone who left kudos and comments! i definitely won't object to getting more, especially if you all are enjoying yourselves!! c: okay, enough from me - enjoy!

Kagome doesn’t see Inuyasha after that, and if she was being honest, she wasn’t totally bummed about that. 

...okay, maybe she was a  _ little _ bummed, but that was only because he never answered her about the song he was playing!

And, okay, maybe for her to say she ‘doesn’t see him’ is a little bit of a lie, considering he still worked at the school full-time as a janitor. He was the only janitor at the school who chose to wear a red coverall compared to everyone else’s dark gray ones, and it wasn’t like he was the type of guy that could just slink into a crowd and not be noticed - his silver hair and eyes that shone like gold weren’t exactly common, after all - so she  _ did _ see him, but he made it pretty explicitly clear with a classic dip around a corner whenever he saw her that he didn’t want anything to do with her. 

That was probably for the best.

So, her life went on as normal. She got to Mr. Takayama’s class and pretended that she was feeling completely great and normal. Whether or not he noticed was a different story - she honestly wondered if he was respecting her privacy by not asking or if he wasn’t sure that anything had happened. She sits at Shippo’s table and she and the two girls sitting with them all work together on the classwork and talk about their ‘get-to-know-me’ projects. 

Kagome was going to stop at her mother’s to go through her old picture books. Surely there were some good pictures, or at least multiples, that her mother could part with. 

Recess was pretty uneventful. She ended up sticking this one out, choosing to walk around the school under the guise of giving herself a tour. In truth, Kagome was trying not to admit to herself what she was really doing. 

When she makes it to the music room steps and starts walking up, she mentally smacks herself.  _ What do you think you’re  _ _ doing _ _? He made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t like you. So what’s the matter with you? _

“I don’t know,” she whispered aloud. 

She clutches the railing tightly, going back and forth, ruminating on the question before she leans forward to take another step, changes her mind and whirls around to head back down the stairs … only to crash into a warm, hard chest with an “Oof!” 

“You make it a habit of talkin’ to yourself, Ka-go-me?” 

_ That voice _ . Looking up and fighting the urge to squawk in embarrassment, Kagome pushes herself away from the chest of none other than Inuyasha, who was looking down at her with a raised dark eyebrow, mouth pulled down in a frown. His eyes were burning gold, sweltering at her, and she couldn’t decide what kind of emotion that meant he was feeling. Instead of apologizing and carrying on her merry way, however, she has some  _ things _ to say. 

“As a matter of fact, I don’t. You make it a habit of being a jerk?” 

Rolling his eyes, he scoffs. “ _ Keh _ . Like I haven’t heard that one before. Can I help you with something, or do you bump into  _ everybody’s _ chests on the daily and don’t apologize?” 

“ _ Apologize? _ That’s rich, coming from you.” What was this guy’s  _ problem _ ? Did he have a personal vendetta against her or something? “Jeez, I accidentally walk in on you playing the piano and this is what happens. Huh!” 

Inuyasha sighs hard, like it’s taking every ounce of his strength not to yell or be mean or something, and Kagome crosses her arms over her chest. Then, he walks around her, sticking his hands in his pockets, and continues walking up until he turns into the hallway opposite the music room door. It was almost as if he was avoiding it.

Kagome blows out a breath, relieved to have the hallway to herself again - because being in such close proximity to him had sucked the air out of her lungs. Was it possible that someone could be so annoyed that they suffocate? That’s what she was feeling right now - and heads back downstairs to get the  _ hell _ out of the hallway. Maybe she  _ should _ go outside, get some fresh air, maybe play some games with some of the little kids to help get her mind off of it. 

Because seriously. What the hell was his problem?

* * *

“Thanks so much for letting me take a look at your photo albums, Mom,” Kagome sighs as she enters her childhood home, breathing in a deep sigh as the faint smell of vinegar wafts from the kitchen to the front part of the house. “Oh man, did you make pickles today?” 

“I did!” her mother said cheerfully. “I have a couple more cans to fill, but you can take a couple of jars back with you. I might have overdone it again…” 

It doesn’t sound like it was an accident, but Kagome was hardly complaining as she clapped excitedly to herself. “Yes!” 

Kagome hardly needed her mother to show her where she kept the photo albums - bottom shelf of one of the big bookcases in the family room - and she shuffles across the wooden floor and turns into the large family room; the entire room was  _ littered _ with picture frames, some on the wall and more on a beautiful hutch in the corner, which was where Mom kept her essential oils, spare candles, incense, and a bottle or two of mild alcohol. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but liked to mix herself something fruity and fun every once in a while. Someday, she and her mother should go out drinking. 

She was really, really impatient to go out now that she was all on her own. 

Since she was a young girl, she  _ loved _ to go through her mother’s old photos. There were a lot of her as a child, and then her and baby Sota. There were maybe three or four of Mom with Dad, and every time she gazed upon the photos, her father’s face got a little less familiar. It wasn’t necessarily a  _ sad _ feeling she got in her chest, but definitely something similar. She had only been alive for four years before Dad died. 

She grabbed one of the copies of her parents’ wedding photo and smiled. “Mom, can I have this picture of you and Dad for a school project?”

Mom’s voice filters in through the hallway. “Will I be getting it back?” 

“Uh, no? I can try and get it back to you unharmed, but I can’t make any promises.” 

Footsteps came up behind Kagome, walking into the room and sitting on the sofa behind her. “Hm. I have two more copies of that one, I think. Plus the bigger one in my room. If you  _ can _ return it safely, I’d like that, but if you can’t I suppose I can part with  _ that _ one.” 

Kagome nods her head, setting the photo on the ground beside her, and continues to look. She wanted a picture of her with baby Sota, her first day of school, and her graduation pictures from both high school and college. She’d also find a recent, clean selfie and email it to her school account so she can print it out at the library. Finding the specific pictures she wanted wasn’t too difficult, and after she found them and placed them with the other beside her, she decided to just sit there and continue flipping through the rest of the albums. 

She gets to the middle of the second big album before her entire body freezes. 

“Kagome? What’s the matter, dear?” 

She couldn’t  _ believe this _ . 

There was one single copy of a picture of her at their old house, standing in a nice - and no longer clean - white shirt with puffy sleeves and a pair of equally-dirty overalls, her black hair chin-length and eyes wide and playful as she looked to be mid-grab for another child. She narrows her eyes in thought, taking in the look of the other child; their hair was short and light, about the same length as hers, and big, triangular dog ears on the top of their head. There was a huge smile plastered on their faces. It might have been a trick of the overhead light, but the kid’s eyes looked big and bright and gold--

_ Gold? _

Kagome’s eyes dart right to the caption beside the picture, and she nearly throws the book out of her lap: ‘ _ Kagome and Inuyasha, 5 and 6’ _

“ _ Oh my god. _ ”

Mom scoots forward a little, trying to see what it was that made her react like that. “What is it, dear?” 

“I  _ know _ where I know him now.” 

“Who?” 

Kagome scrambles up and scoots on her knees over to where Mom was sitting and all but shoved the photo album into her lap. “There, right there. The boy I used to play with at our old house, before Sota was born.”

“Inuyasha… oh that’s right, I remember him.” Mom places a hand to her cheek. “You two were so sweet together, and even though he was a demon, he was so gentle with you. He even let you play with his little dog ears!” 

_ Dog ears. _ The bandana. Holy  _ shit _ , what were the odds?!

“Mom… can I have this?”

“Of course, dear. But … how-”

Kagome stands up, sliding the picture out of it’s clear slot and staring at it in her hands, the initial shock giving way to nostalgic excitement as she starts to bounce in place. “Holy crap, I thought he looked familiar, but now I can’t wait to rub it in his  _ stupid _ ,  _ jerk _ face!” 

“Kagome, you’re not making any sense-”

“Mom, you’ll never believe this, but Inuyasha works at the school, too!” 

_ And now I get to tease him forever! _ ‘You two were sweet together, he was so gentle with you’ take  _ that _ , dog boy!

“That’s wonderful! The two of you should meet up and go out! I bet he’ll be thrilled to see you!” 

At least Kagome waits until she waves goodbye to her mother - with a couple of jars of homemade pickles, a candle, and a kiss from Mom - to burst into laughter. Oh yeah - he’ll definitely be  _ something _ . 

“Just you wait, Inuyasha,” Kagome chuckles, getting into her car and driving back to her apartment.  _ You wait ‘til I get my hands on you! _


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome and sango make plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! i hope this chapter finds you safe, sane and comfortable wherever you might be. i've gotta admit, this story has been so much fun to write so far! (and, don't worry, that's not me saying we're anywhere CLOSE to an end. because we are not. my last slow burn was 49 chapters, so if that's anything to go by, we've only just scratched the surface. besides, the amount that i have actually written has only _just_ scratched the surface of the plot of this. i'm very excited for y'all to get there. c: 
> 
> next update is 9/23! which means this saturday, 9/19, expect a sneak peek of ch7!! 
> 
> onto the chapter!

“ _ Wow, I can’t believe what incredible  _ _ luck _ _ that is _ ,” Sango chirps on the other side of the phone, her voice laced with a knowing giggle even as Kagome lets out her fourth groan since the conversation began a little while ago; she and Sango had texted for much of the morning, school not being in session on account of it being Saturday. They had covered most of the classic ‘nice to meet you’ topics, like hobbies and interests, and when they started to dip into conversation about their first weeks respectively, Kagome hadn’t been able to resist mentioning Inuyasha and the music room incident. 

“It’s not funny,” Kagome whines, and Sango unfortunately laughs again. In the background, she can hear squeals of laughter from someone much younger, and that makes her frustration ebb slightly before she continues. “I thought he looked familiar, outside of maybe seeing him on the faculty page of the school website or something. I had  _ no idea _ he was the demon kid I used to play with! He  _ smiled _ and  _ had fun _ back then.” 

“ _ You don’t know what his life’s been like since you both fell out of touch _ ,” Sango reminds her. “ _ And besides, now that you know who he is, are you going to tell him? _ ”

Kagome sinks into her sectional, stretching her legs out across the length of it, and lets out an exaggerated sigh. ‘Hey, by the way, Inuyasha, we used to be best friends as kids so let’s make up and be best friends again!’ seemed like a pretty silly thing to fret over saying, especially because of all the time that had passed. But it was the  _ time _ that gave her pause, coupled with the way he’d looked at her. Sure, she was willing to put in the work on  _ her _ end, since she wanted to know what made the happy boy she grew up with so burly and harsh - and rude - but was she even sure he’d remember her? 

“ _ Kagome? _ ”

“Yeah, I’m here,” she says lamely. “I don’t know, Sango. He doesn’t seem to like me very much.” As Kagome explains, Sango makes quiet sounds of understanding, though she doesn’t seem convinced. “As much as I’d be willing to try, who knows how much good it’ll do.” 

“ _ Maybe he just needs help remembering. _ ” Then, Kagome can hear a small voice call out for ‘ _ Mama _ ’ and Sango says, “ _ Hold on _ ,” before Kagome hears a very slight noise of effort. “ _ What is it, Yuki? Where’s Daddy? _ ”

Kagome smiles, even if she knows Sango can’t see it. On the other line, the young child babbles in a very no-nonsense voice that makes her believe that she probably got that from Sango, and she can’t help the giggle that tumbles out. Then, she hears a male voice gently call to her, and Kagome pulls her legs up so she can wrap her free arm around her knees. Sango says something away from the phone, she hears a short kiss, then goes back to the phone. “ _ Sorry about that. _ ”

“Don’t be. Is everything okay?” 

“ _ Oh, yeah. Miroku’s just trying to get the girls to settle down before dinner. Obviously, it’s going well. _ ”

Kagome laughs, greatly amused by the explanation. “Well, I can let you go if you have to get dinner ready. I’m gonna get ready to go anyway.” 

Sango barks out a laugh which makes Kagome raise an eyebrow. “ _ I don’t cook. Not very ‘housewife’ of me, huh? _ ” Kagome’s pretty sure she hears the same male voice from before - Miroku, her fiance - say something loudly in mock offense before Sango shushes him. Kagome can’t help but have to hide a grin, even if she knew Sango couldn’t see her. “ _ Miroku does a lot of the cooking and cleaning, but that’s because he’s a freak about cleanliness. Maybe a couple steps down from Danny Tanner. _ ” Another mock-offended statement, before Sango sighs. “ _ We should go out sometime. I’m sure we can find a suitable sitter for the girls, and you can meet Miroku, too. _ ” 

“Counter offer: you  _ bring _ the girls and we have a picnic at the park! They’re always having local bands playing on the stage and the weather’s still nice and warm.”

Sango seems to consider this option, humming thoughtfully. “ _ That’s another good idea. Why not both? As much as I love my daughters, there’s nothing like adult company. _ ” This time, Kagome clearly can hear the ‘ _ Bow chicka wow wow _ ’ on the other end, and Sango bursts into laughter before she hears an ‘ _ oof! _ ’, like Sango had thrown something at him. They were a riot - she liked them already. “ _ It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow. Would it be against new friend etiquette to meet my family tomorrow? Around noon? _ ” 

“Let’s do it! I can make macaroni salad, and the pickles my mom made should be ready by tomorrow.” 

“ _ Excellent. We can supply sandwiches and some fruit. We have  _ _ so _ _ much fruit. _ ”

Kagome giggles, Sango following soon thereafter. “Great! It’s settled then.”

The two chatter for a little while longer, excited about their plans for the next day, and when Sango announces that she is going to spend some time with her family, Kagome wishes them a good evening and expresses excitement one more time before she hangs up. Tossing her phone onto the coffee table, she flops back down like a Kagome starfish.

A good distraction is what she needed after the last couple days. And who better than Sango and her family, and some good food and local music?

“Guess I better start on the macaroni salad.” It was better cold, so if she wanted it to be as fresh as possible, she needed to at least get the macaroni cooked, mix the dressing, chop up some peppers and onions, and put it all in the fridge. After that, she was going to go for a walk around town to help clear her head, if it wasn’t too dark.

That night, she doesn’t necessarily dream so much as imagine … something. A song, or part of one … a tune? Something she hadn’t heard of before, but it comes to her simply like a conversation, and when she gets up in the middle of the night to get a cup of water, she finds herself humming a part of it. She doesn’t really realize it until she gets back to bed and is too anxious to get back to sleep. Eventually, she slips back into sleep with the tune playing softly in her head, like it was being played from somewhere else.

* * *

Kagome walks through the park, big basket in the crook of her elbow; as soon as she got up that morning, she had put together the rest of the macaroni salad and let it chill in the fridge until she was getting ready to go. There was a big checkerboard blanket that she reserved for picnics that she had folded and placed at the bottom of the basket, as well as one big plastic container of the salad, and a big glass bottle of instant lemonade that she cut strawberries and chunks of lemon into that had a rubber cork on top. 

She had seen Sango first, standing with a taller man and two young children who were running around them, laughing with abandon. There was a moderately-sized cooler behind them, which most likely had the sandwiches and fruit in it. The sight of the children made her giggle and she makes a show of flailing her arm in a wave of hello, and suddenly, the children pause in their running, look up at Sango who says something to them, and then come running at her. 

_ Why do I have a feeling that Sango told them to tackle me or something? _ “Wait, wait, I have goods!” Kagome quickly puts the basket on the ground and has about two seconds to lift her head up just in time for the two children - daughters, twin daughters - to tackle her onto the ground. “Waaaaah, you got me!” 

Sango walks toward Kagome-pile and laughs lightly. “For the record, I didn’t tell them to tackle you. I only said that you were a friend of mine from school.” 

Kagome giggles, wrapping an arm around each of the girls and helping them slide off of her and back onto the grass. The yellow sundress she had put on was now dirty in the front, and there was probably going to be grass stains on her butt, too. But, this was an old dress that she mostly wore when she expected to get dirty. Once the girls had slid off her stomach and were on their way back to Sango, she stands up and dusts herself off with a dramatic sigh.

“You’re lucky this is my ‘get dirty’ dress.” 

Sango smiles apologetically, and bends to grab the basket. As she stands up, she gestures to the man beside her. “Kagome, this is my fiance, Miroku. Miroku, this is…” she pauses, then, which causes Kagome to look at her, before she sees a look of annoyance on Sango’s face. “...not the time to be grabbing my  _ butt _ , you pervert.” With a huff, she pushes the basket into Miroku’s stomach with a little too much force that he utters an ‘ _ oof _ !’ 

Putting the basket in the crook of his elbow and rubbing behind his head with his right hand, he only chuckles, and Kagome gets the feeling he’s not very sorry about the PDA. “You know I can’t help myself, my dear.” 

At Sango’s answering flush, Kagome laughs lightly. “Well, I brought a big blanket and some lemonade for us, plus the macaroni salad, and--” with a gasp, she runs over to the basket and starts looking through it in a mild panic. “--oh  _ no _ , I forgot the pickles!”

Miroku and Sango look at each other while Kagome sulks into her basket. Then, Miroku chuckles, picking up and patting Kagome’s hand lightly. “No worries, Kagome. Knowing I have macaroni salad  _ and _ Sango’s amazing sandwiches to look forward to, I might have been too full of delicious food to enjoy them.” 

Kagome lets out a tiny grumble, hanging her head in acceptance, before she stands up straight. “Yeah, maybe. Next time, for sure, I’ll remember, though!” Looking around, she tries to find the perfect spot, and is delighted to find a nice shady spot under a huge tree that has the perfect angle of the stage and isn’t too far from one of the play areas. “There seems like a good spot. Plenty of shade, and a great view!”

Miroku nods, calling after the girls - Yuki and Emi - to follow him as Sango picks up the cooler and starts to walk ahead. Kagome, feeling bad about her offering being taken from her, grabs the other side of the cooler’s handle and shares some of the weight with Sango, who smiles at her and accepts the help. They two quietly chatter about their mornings, avoiding any talk about work - and a certain  _ someone _ \- as much as possible. When they get to the spot and set down the cooler, Kagome goes to the basket and immediately starts to unpack everything, shaking out the checkered blanket and setting it down. She places her basket on the edge of the blanket to ensure it doesn’t blow around while they’re eating. 

Sango puts the cooler on the end opposite as Miroku starts to unpack the sandwiches and fruit, the girls watching the adults like hawks. Miroku hands each of the girls a small sprig of grapes to munch on and they sit down to eat. He also pulls out some thick paper plates to eat on and some plastic forks. 

Once the food is separated between them, the five sit and eat their lunch in relative quiet. Or, as much quiet as a couple of toddlers can manage. Kagome’s content to look around the park, glad it wasn’t too busy, most of the people having accumulated closer to the stage for the performance to start. Which, she notes as she checks her wristwatch, would be in about twenty minutes. 

“So, what made you want to become a teacher, if I may ask, Kagome?” Miroku asks cheerfully, gulping down some lemonade. 

Kagome smiles. “Of course you can, Miroku.” 

She starts by telling the story of her mother, who was as good a teacher as she was a mother, and had been for many years before retiring; when Kagome was little and first starting school, Mom was like a ‘mom of all trades’, was able to help her with whatever homework she had no matter the grade level, and she had always respected her mother’s ability to easily juggle the two worlds she lived in: her young kids, and other people’s kids. “I wanted to do something that would  _ mean _ something. There are kids that really need that kind of person in their life, and Mom  _ was _ that light in the darkness. Now, with our school’s mingling of human and demon children, there are plenty of kids who could use a little light and guidance.” 

Miroku nods his head, impressed. “That’s incredible! Your mother sounds like a very special person.” 

Kagome can’t help but preen in her mother’s stead. “She is.” 

Conversation starts leaning over to Sango and Miroku’s side of things, Sango telling Kagome that Miroku traveled a lot, exorcising and purifying evil demons that preyed on humans and blessing towns. Miroku’s chest puffs out in pride, though Kagome can see the nervousness seep into his posture when Sango  _ also _ shares that he could also be quite the swindler. His weak protest of “I must provide for my girls…” almost goes unheard, and the girls cast a Look at each other. 

“What about you, Sango?” Kagome asks, a fork of macaroni salad poised in front of her mouth. “Why did you decide to become a teacher?” 

Sango looks down at that, and Kagome wishes she could grab the question and shove it back down her own throat. “You don’t have to say…”

“No … it’s not that,” with a far away look in her eyes, she starts playing with her fingers, pinching the tips of them with her nails. Miroku’s hand seeks hers out, covering it comfortingly. “I grew up in a lot of foster homes, separated from my younger brother, which my brain didn’t process very well and made me incredibly difficult. But there was one person who believed I was better than everything I’d experienced.” With a small smile, Sango adjusts her hand so the back of her hand is engulfed in Miroku’s palm. “It’s less that I wanted to become a teacher, and more I wanted to be like the person who saw the good in me. And, I wanted to be that for someone else.” 

Kagome’s expression morphs from heartache, to understanding. “Kaede Honda.” 

Sango nods. “Ms. Honda - Kaede - used to do what Miroku does, or at least a version of it. She focused a lot on purifying and blessing, which is how she met me. My foster father thought I was possessed by an evil demon because of how I chose to process my life, and she ended up saving me in a completely different way.” 

“That’s … wow,” Kagome says in an exhale. “Now I’m doubly grateful for Kaede. First because of this incredible job, and second because now, I have such an amazing friend.” 

The three adults share matching grins, but the touching moment is ruined by one of the girls suddenly shrieking, “Mama, it’s starting!” 

The twins both stand up and start jumping with glee and excitement, pulling Kagome’s attention from her new friends to the girls, and then up to the stage. And … and she has to laugh, a shocked thing that’s pulled out of her, because she’s pretty sure now that whatever gods were in charge of this were just having a laugh now. Laughing, at her, openly and zero guilt. 

“Kagome? Is that-?” 

“ _ Yep _ .” 

Inuyasha. In his red coveralls, hair pulled into a ponytail that was sticking out of a baseball cap, currently setting up the equipment and making sure the instruments were plugged in and working properly. If it was just her and zero children around, she might scream. But, because there are children and their parents, she settles for a sigh. 

“Of  _ course _ he’s here. Ruining _ my _ Sunday afternoon. Ugh!” 

“Am I … missing something?” Miroku asks innocently, his expression amused and tone even more so. 

Sango makes a show of leaning over and whispering behind her hand, “Kagome and the maintenance guy have  _ history _ .”

“Oh.” Simple, understanding, but his tone quickly morphs to something else. Sango doesn’t correct him. “ _ Oh. _ ”

The twins are none the wiser, just start jumping up and down, trying to get his attention. They probably think he’s part of the show, and when he seems to hear and looks over his shoulder at them, Kagome hangs her head slightly, resigning to her fate. She misses the surprised look on his face, and by the time she looks back up, he’s gone. 

_ For the best. _ She reminds herself.  _ This is for the best. _

Right?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome stops fighting fate and goes on a search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! happy wednesday! (what's so happy about it, one might ask? why, it's update day!)
> 
> thanks to everyone who has left kudos and comments - you guys are my favorite! as for the rest of you ... you're ALSO my favorite! (though i /will/ say that comments and kudos are a huge motivator) 
> 
> for now, we meander through kagome's school days. hm, wonder what today will bring? c:
> 
> next chapter sneak peek goes up on 9/27 on my tumblr! which ofc means an update next week! i hope y'all enjoy this one!

Kagome would have been okay with that ‘for the best’ mantra she kept trying to sell herself, but there was just no fighting fate. Especially when all the pieces were there - she had remembered who he was, and try as she might, she couldn’t escape the fact that she  _ just. Kept. Seeing him. _

_ Okay _ , she thinks,  _ Okay, fine.  _ If the fates wanted to keep pushing, she’d stop pulling back so damn hard. 

So, on Monday morning, she resolves to talk to him the minute she sees him. Which, as easy as it sounds in theory considering how often they seemed to just …  _ run into _ each other, was much more difficult in practice. 

Kagome had opted for a pair of simple denim capris, a yellow button-down blouse and a light jacket on top. Her hair was tied up in a top knot, and a black beaded necklace hung around her neck. As soon as she pulled into her spot and got to the front gate, she was greeted by Shiori, who had brought over a rock to show her that was slightly heart-shaped and told her that it was for her. Gratefully accepting, she rubbed the top of the girl’s hair. 

There was time before she had to dash to class, so she chose that time to try and find Inuyasha. 

The halls were quiet and clean, which almost made her feel bad about getting the dirt from the playground all over them. She wasn’t sure where she could try and find him, and after a minute of deliberation, decided to head toward the music room first. Now on a mission, Kagome walks with purpose toward the staircase that would lead her there, only pausing for a moment to call out, “Inuyasha, are you up there?” 

No answer comes, and she practically hops up the stairs, looking up to the next level as she moves. If she could find him before school started, it would be a weight off of her shoulders. Once she stands on the second floor she dips into the music room, following the narrow hallway and shielding her eyes against the bright sun coming through the clean windows. The chairs are set up neatly in organized rows, a different sight to the complete disarray of last week, and when it’s obvious that he  _ had _ been here but wasn’t anymore, she lets out a pout and groan for added effect. 

Spinning around, she calmly walks back out into the hall and decides to search the second floor, figuring she would drop off her things in Koga’s classroom while she was up here. 

To even her surprise, he wasn’t sitting at his desk, and she opens the door and dips her head in to check to see if he was there. Sure enough, he was standing in front of the white board, looking down at a notebook in one arm as the hand on his other starts writing down that day’s schedule. She slips in as quietly as she can and places down her messenger bag, though he hears her, and he turns around only to flash her with a grin. “Good morning, Kagome.” 

“Morning,” she says cheerily, opening up her bag and pulling out her version of the class project and looking it over; after her outing with Sango, Miroku and their daughters, she had gone home and put out all of the pictures she’d gotten from Mom, carefully arranging them with pieces of tape rolled up so she could take them off easily later. She liked the way it came out, and by the look on Koga’s face, he felt the same. 

“That came out nice,” he says appreciatively. His eyes roamed over it, taking her in through the stages of her life she had chosen to share, and she pretends not to feel a little embarrassment as his eyes flick from the pictures and back up to her. She can’t get a read on what his eyes are trying to tell her, and she isn’t sure that she wants to know. Clearing her throat, she straightens out her blouse over her denim waistband. “I’m about to head to the teacher’s room to get some fresh coffee and a pastry, you wanna come with?” 

Kagome looks back up at him to see his hopeful expression, and she puts her hands up placatingly. “Oh, thank you, but I don’t drink coffee. I’ll walk that way with you, though.” 

“Oh? Got another date or something?” he asks teasingly as he walks back to his desk to put down the notebook, finished with what he was doing. 

“Something like that,” she says cheerily. “I need to find someone.” 

Koga walks back in her direction, jogging a bit in front of her to get to the door first so he could open it for them both. “Oh really? I’ve worked here a few years, I could help you find them if they’re a teacher here.” 

“Thanks, Koga,” Kagome says, both in response to his opening the door for her and for his help. “He’s one of the janitors? Inuyasha, white hair and gold eyes, kind of a jerk?” 

His expression totally changes then, from open and curious to annoyed.  _ Do they not like each other? _ “Why are you looking for that mutt-face? Was he mean to you? Do you want me to handle him?” 

“No, he wasn’t mean to me,” he had been rude, but not mean. She wasn’t about to tell him that, though. “I just needed to talk to him, that’s all. Turns out, we grew up together, and I didn’t recognize him 'til recently.” 

“Really? That’s some weird luck.” 

“I  _ know _ ! That’s what I thought! And we keep running into each other, so I figured I’d see if he wanted to meet up and catch up on lost time, you know?” 

“I guess.” Koga lets out a little growl, then when they make it to the teacher’s room, he turns to Kagome with a serious look. “Just look out for yourself, okay? He’s not an evil guy, but he has his moments that make him not very good for nice people like you. Be careful, alright?” 

Kagome is touched by his concerns, but she reassures, “I can take care of myself, don’t worry. Enjoy your coffee and sweets!” Then, she takes off in the other direction, waving over her shoulder as he calls out her name again. 

* * *

It figures; as soon as she actually goes  _ looking _ for the guy, he’s nowhere to be found!

Kagome had roamed around the entire school building, even looked out the windows and scoured the grounds, to see if she could find Inuyasha, but by the time the bell had rung, she had no such luck. Maybe if she had been smart, she would have gone to the office to see if they could page him, but she didn’t want to draw his ire more than she might have already. Figuring she’d run into him organically sooner or later, she made her way back to Koga’s classroom. 

The morning was quick and painless. As soon as she got to class, she ran into Shippo, who greeted her with a big smile. She smiled right back, ruffling his hair, before they sat down and prepared for class; every now and again, her mind would stray to Inuyasha, whether it was a distant, foggy memory of the two playing in her front yard, or that first day in the music room, how calm he had looked as he sat at the piano. Like sitting at the bench and letting his fingers tickle the ivories was his ‘home after a long day’ moment. Curiosity killed the Kagome - she wanted to know everything she had missed, from the moment she moved away to now.

At recess, she walks from one end of the school to the other before she goes outside. 

No such luck. 

_ Jeez, Inuyasha _ , she sighs to herself. Shiori runs up to her and drags her to the nearest swing set, where she sits and asks in the sweetest voice Kagome had ever heard if she would push her, and she gets up behind her to gently do so, pensively staring ahead.  _ You can be such a pain in the butt… _

The rest of the school day goes on without incident, with Kagome eventually forgetting about her private pact. Her attention shifts to Shippo, who struggles in science and she does her best to help him navigate the notes both on the paper and in the book. It takes a while for him to get it, but he does eventually; the one-on-one time was helping him out a great deal, the two of them working quietly in the back of the classroom at the little table near the comfortable seating area. While Shippo did have his moments when they were working together, Kagome was glad that she could get him back on task. 

And, see? Kagome  _ could _ understand Koga’s lessons and notes, thank you _ very _ much. 

Lunch was a breeze, with Sango texting her to come to the teacher’s room. When there, she and Sango exchanged parts of their lunches - Sango had a couple of sandwiches from the picnic and Kagome had packed some macaroni salad …  _ and _ the damn pickles this time! - and gabbed about their mornings. Kagome listened intently as Sango bemoaned having to find a new sitter because their old one had gotten a new job, and the two made plans to go out for drinks sometime the next weekend. 

“Miroku can watch the girls for a couple of hours,” Sango reasoned. “It’s just one night.”

“You two are an awfully cute couple,” Kagome grinned. “How did you two meet?” 

Sango blushed. “It’s not very romantic. It’s actually pretty far from it,” with a sigh, she took a bite from one of the pickles Kagome shared with her and moaned at it’s delicious crunch. “Wow, this is great! ...uh, he grabbed my butt, thinking I was another woman, and I slapped him. That’s it.” 

“Who would have thought you’d be getting married to him?” 

“Certainly not my brother’s foster parents. They don’t really like Miroku that much.” 

There was a sad weight to Sango’s tone and Kagome quickly searched for a change in subject.  _ Think, Higurashi, think! _ When no idea came, she reached over and grabbed Sango’s hand, not saying anything. Apparently it did enough, because Sango shakes her head. “I love him very much, though. After all, he gave me Yuki and Emi. We’re going to get married in the spring - you’re welcome to come if you want. It’ll just be a small, private wedding at our house. His uncle is going to come, my brother hopefully, and Kaede.”

“I would be happy to come!” Kagome clapped her hands, beaming.

The two ate their lunches in comfortable, excited quiet, every once in a while Sango getting a text and quickly typing a response back. After lunch, classes picked back up again, and they made their respective leaves back to their classrooms. 

Kagome ends up going home that afternoon disappointed, but no less determined. She  _ would _ find Inuyasha. Hell, maybe she could talk to Kaede and finagle his contact information from her. Since Kaede seemed to pick who worked here carefully, surely there was a reason Inuyasha was hired, too, right?

She’d have to see. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome goes to her first teacher's meeting, while inuyasha realizes why ms. honda /really/ hired him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not gonna lie to you - this whole week has been real crappy. i've not been feelin' Great but i didn't want to forget to post this, so here it is! 
> 
> can you BELIEVE we get to see our adopted daughter moroha on saturday??? i'm so hyyyype! if nothing else, i'm excited to see her. but, on the topic of saturday, the sneak peek for ch9 will be up saturday on my tumblr! that means the full chapter 9 will be out next week!
> 
> (also, i realize this doesn't have a title - i'll come back to it when i'm feeling better. c: )
> 
> enjoy!

The week meanders, much like Kagome was stuck behind a slow walker, but she manages to make it through to Thursday with little problems; Kaede had told her that, on Friday morning, there would be another teacher’s meeting - they were held in the library, she had idly mentioned - and that she should come to this one, seeing as her services would most assuredly be needed. Of course, she wasn’t really sure what kind of help she could provide, but she can’t help but feel a little excited about the prospect of providing it. 

Plus, it seemed like Inuyasha was going above and beyond to avoid her like the plague despite her pact. If that’s the way he wanted to be, then maybe they weren’t meant to reconnect at all? She didn’t know. Her excitement was far more palpable than her disappointment. 

On Friday morning, she gets to school with her hair tied back in a neat bun with little hairs popping out of the ‘do, and had put on a sleek white button-down that she tucked into a red high-waisted skirt. If she says so herself, she looks sophisticated as hell, which upped her confidence ten-fold. 

As she closes the driver door and goes into the back seat to pull out her messenger bag, she sends a text off to her mother: ‘ _D_ _inner on me tonight!_ ’ 

The response comes immediately. ‘ **Sota too?** ’

‘ _Well yeah, of course_ ’

‘ **See you then!** ’

Like she always does, Kagome walks onto the playground and smiles at the children who recognize her. Shippo was showing some fox magic tricks to a couple of other boys his age and was relishing in their awe and excitement; she didn’t see Shiori, but she probably hadn’t gotten there yet. It was still pretty early. When she gets inside the front door, she’s met with Koga, who holds out an arm for her to take. Being polite, she accepts it, though maintains a loose grip on his arm. 

“So you’re coming to the meeting, huh?” his tone is curious, and she nods. “That’s pretty exciting. Though I hope it’s not because you’re gonna transfer to a different class.” 

“I hope not either.” Though, it probably wasn’t for the same reasons. She would miss Shippo, is all. “So, we don’t know what the meeting’s about, then.” 

Koga looks down at her, obviously able to sense the nerves jittering along her skin, and he scoffs lightly. “Heh! You have nothing to worry about, Kagome. Obviously Kaede trusts in your judgement, or else she wouldn’t have asked you to come. Everyone who works here, she personally handles the hiring process and all that.” 

Kagome quiets at that, looking at the hallway in front of her in thought. _Does that mean she personally picked Inuyasha, too? I wonder what his connection to her is?_

The library takes up almost an entire quadrant of the second floor, with bookshelves lining one entire wall as round tables are spread out in front of them. Chairs surrounded each of the tables, spaced apart evenly and with enough room for students to have some breathing room. To section off the sitting area is more bookshelves, these ones shorter to act as dividers. On the other wall directly across from it were long tables used as computer desks; two desktop computers shared one table, side by side and facing opposite directions. In the middle of the library there were four couches set up all facing each other with a short, round end table in the middle. 

Compared to other school libraries she’d seen, this one felt rather extravagant. 

Koga led her to one of the round tables on the left-hand side and took a seat in one of the chairs. Kagome chose a chair beside him, setting her messenger bag on the floor underneath the table, keeping it close to her. His quiet murmur of “Wake me when Honda gets here” almost goes missed, and when she turns her head to ask what he said, she sees him with his arms cross, head tilted down and eyes closed. _Even when he’s asleep, he looks grouchy…_

She only has to sit in quiet for a couple more minutes before she hears keys jingling behind her, and she wonders idly if it’s Kaede or maybe even the librarian before she’s met with a pair of annoyed amber eyes and a pointed yawn - and she _definitely_ sees fangs - and her face lights up in triumph; _finally_ after days of him seemingly dropping off the face of the earth, he shows up when she least expects it! At her excited expression, he winces and makes to back up, but her hand reaching out for the sleeve of his red coverall stills him. 

“I’ve been _looking_ for you, you know,” she narrows her eyes. 

“Keh. The hell would ya do that for?” Inuyasha looks exhausted, like he had just walked away from an argument, which makes her bright expression fall a little bit. 

Kagome lets go of his sleeve and puts her hands on her hips, all the while trying not to be too loud as Koga dozes behind her. “I wanted to talk to you. You know, in private?”

“I wouldn’t bother, Kagome,” the rough voice of Koga sounds behind her, and she looks over her shoulder only to see him glaring at Inuyasha. “This mutt isn’t worth your concern.” 

“Watch it, _wolf_ ,” Inuyasha rumbles. 

“Don’t call him that,” Kagome huffs at Koga before turning back to face Inuyasha. When she looks back at his face, his expression jumps from the exhausted frustration to something guarded but curious, and she offers him a light smile, trying to keep the pleading lilt out of her voice. “Can we meet up, or exchange numbers or something?” 

Inuyasha wrinkles his nose and looks like he’s about to answer - what his answer would be, she doesn’t know - when Kaede calls out to her in greeting. “Kagome, it’s a pleasure to see you. You too, Inuyasha.” 

_So, she does know him._ Kagome offers a bright smile and wave, and a few more teachers filter in and bring more chairs to sit around the table. To her surprise, Inuyasha takes up a chair and sits next to her, spinning the chair around backwards so the back of the chair faces the table, and sits down. Looking over with a much more subdued smile at Inuyasha, she crosses one leg over the other and waits for Kaede to start the meeting. 

“Our first order of business is this: this is Kagome Higurashi,” Kaede holds a hand out for her and motions for her to stand. She does, offering a bow to the other teachers. “Miss Higurashi is one of our teacher’s aides and specializes in behaviors in both human _and_ demon children.” Several of the teachers she didn’t know yet looked at her with varying levels of understanding, and she blushes under their gazes. When she looks away to try and get a handle on her warm face, she can see Inuyasha looking at her, for once frustration far from his eyes. Quickly moving her head to look at her lap, she takes a few deep breaths. 

Koga gives her a thumbs up, which she sees from the corner of her eye. 

“Our next business is thus,” Kaede continues, her voice taking on a sad tune. “Over the summer, as you are all aware, I was tasked to find a new music director, and I had found a replacement worthy of our school and sensitive to the student body that is enrolled. But they got in touch with me to alert me that they would not be able to carry out their duties.” 

The teachers murmured to themselves, and Kagome’s eyes widened, air sucked into her lungs in a gasp; Sango had thought they might have found a replacement, but it had turned out that what she thought was the new teacher playing piano was _Inuyasha._ So, it was true, then. There wasn’t a music teacher … _So then, what arrangement have they made?_

“Having very few options left, I am left with difficult decisions: do I take over the duties myself, or perhaps try and get in touch with one of my colleagues to see if they can fill the role temporarily…” for the next part, she looks past Kagome’s right side, and Kagome’s eyes follow the look in curiosity. She was … looking at Inuyasha? “Or perhaps, do I look no further than the employees I currently have?” 

Kagome looks between Inuyasha, whose face echoed the pain of betrayal, then back at Kaede, who looked like she already knew the answer she wanted to give. 

“Old woman, you know damn well what I’m gonna say,” Inuyasha says beside her, voice strained. 

“Watch your tongue, _half demon_ ,” one of the other teachers spits like venom from across the table. “You will address Principal Honda with _respect_.” 

Inuyasha works his jaw. “I should’a known why someone like you would hire me. Damn it.” 

“Perhaps you _should_ have known, since you can’t seem to offer anything else to society.” 

Kagome’s blood runs hot and her head whips around to find the owner of that voice, and she’s met face to face with a man with long dark hair that hangs loose over his shoulders. He had on a dark blue dress shirt, and his face was looking at Inuyasha with disgust and hatred, and she felt a tremor rip through her body as she took in his beady red eyes. They slid over to her, looking her up and down, and his lips quirked in a crooked smile that made her shiver in discomfort. 

Her anger gets the better of her, and she stands up, leaning over the table and giving him a cross look. “That’s a despicable thing to say! Who do you think you are, saying things like that!” 

The entire table was quiet, staring at Kagome like she had set the man on fire. Kaede even looks shocked, but she recovers fairly quickly and clears her throat in an abrupt way that draws Kagome’s blazing look at her. Immediately, her temper starts to cool. “Kagome, please settle, child. And Mr. Nakamura, do well to hold your tongue. I will not stand for such things said in this school.” 

Mr. Nakamura doesn’t so much apologize as he does nod his head in her direction, but Kagome feels like someone else is more deserving of that apology. Kaede sighs deeply, tries to get the meeting back under way, and all Kagome can do is sit there and seethe. When she can’t quite get her anger under control, she quietly excuses herself and pushes herself out of her chair and stalks out of the library. 

* * *

Kagome wasn’t aware that she had burst into tears until she was halfway down the hallway, her feet on a path of their own as she tried to get control of herself; how _dare_ that man say things like that? In a place like this, run by someone like Kaede _goddamn_ Honda, how could he get away with that?! 

_Get ahold of yourself_ , a voice in her head scolds, and she shakes her head side to side. _Since when are you such a hothead?_

She doesn’t intend on going very far, just far enough that she can duck around a corner and hopefully get a handle on her stupid feelings without an audience. Thankfully, there was no one around. 

Well. At least there wasn't for a couple minutes before she hears footsteps following after her, and as she forces herself to take a deep breath, she’s met with the slight scent of … something natural, earthy, with a slight tinge of cleaning solution. Covering her face as she takes in another breath and peeking through her fingers on one hand, she sees…

“Uh, here,” Inuyasha holds out a handkerchief, not able to look at her. She takes it carefully and dabs it under her eyes; the last thing she needed before a day full of classes was for her face to be red and puffy. Perhaps sensing her frustration at herself, he sighs and crosses his arms, then uncrosses them, scratching behind his head. His awkward, anxious energy calls forth the comforting part of her, and she looks at him and gives him a gentle smile that she tries to will her eyes to echo. 

“Thanks. I’m … sorry. About freaking out back there.” 

His brow furrows as his eyes narrow, but instead of aiming his look at her, he looks down at the handkerchief folded in her hand. “Don’t be. Sh-- stuff like that happens all the time. Didn’t bother me.” 

“I don’t know why you bother,” she says simply, not at all accusatory. “I can tell it does. If it bothers me, there’s no way it doesn’t bother you.”

“Why _does_ it bother you?” he asks, and he _does_ sound accusatory. “It ain’t like it’s any of your business.” 

Kagome sniffles and fights the urge to blow her nose into the handkerchief. She’d blow her nose and wash her face in the bathroom after. Clutching onto the handkerchief, she says, “It’s not my business, you’re right. But I’m also not going to let someone get away with treating another person like that. Doesn’t matter if they’re a sweet little girl or a stupid _jerk_ who likes to avoid me.” Looking back up at him, she can see the way his expression wavers, like her intensity is whittling away at him. After a couple beats, Inuyasha sighs, feels the stiffness in his shoulders ease. Kagome feels herself start to deflate a little too, the anger having seeped out of her. Her body felt heavy. She leans back against the wall, letting it hold her weight, and her thumb rubs over letters embroidered in one of the corners of the handkerchief: ‘I-T’

“Y’know, I don’t think I’ve seen that bas-- that d-- _Nakamura_ be silenced like that.” 

“Is it me, or do you sound _impressed_?” 

“Don’t get _excited_.” There’s a slight flush of pink on his cheeks, and Kagome feels a smile pulled to her lips almost of its own accord. “A-Anyway, were you … gonna go back?” 

Kagome sighs and peeks her head around. “I probably should. You?” 

“Yeah.” 

“‘kay. Did … you want this back?” She holds out the cloth, letting her eyes rove over it for a second longer. It was light and soft in her hand, less like it was used for what he gave it to her for and more as a decoration or something. He shrugs his shoulders unhelpfully and sticks his hands in the pockets of his coveralls. “Okay. Let’s … go back?”

Nodding, Inuyasha takes the lead, walking a few steps and then turning to wait for her. Kagome pushes off the wall and is surprised to see him waiting, but she grins and starts to walk next to him. About halfway toward the library, she slips her arm through his, and a giggle slips out when she hears him rumble but not pull away. 

When they get back to the library, Mr. Nakamura is missing from the meeting, and Kaede is quietly talking amongst them. Once they’re in earshot of the table, Kagome hears the mutter of “-have to see if he can bring her back to confirm,” and, when she finally notices them coming back, Kaede’s expression morphs to something akin to pride, like ‘See, I told you’ and Kagome slips her arm out of Inuyasha’s. “Child, I’m sorry for Mr. Nakamura’s outburst.” 

That, it seemed like, was aimed at Inuyasha. Kagome looked up at him. 

“Whatever. Ain’t like I haven’t heard stuff like that my whole life.” 

Kagome, knowing what she knows about their shared childhood memories, feels her heart constrict. She doesn’t move or say anything, though. 

“So, Inuyasha,” Kaede says, voice hopeful and eyebrows raised slightly, “Can I count on you? On a temporary basis, of course, just for one year. That will give me time to find a proper, permanent replacement.” 

Kagome doesn’t expect it, but Inuyasha sighs, looks down at her at his side - she smiles, urging him to do the right thing by the students - and he squeezes his eyes shut and pinches the bridge of his nose. She has a feeling he just swore about thirty times in his head. Then, he looks back up at Kaede. “ _Fine._ Just this year.”

Maybe it was a little overkill, a bit of an over-reaction, but Kagome claps her hands cheerfully before grabbing onto his sleeve and shaking his arm excitedly. “Oh, this is so good!” 

“And you, Kagome,” Kaede turns to her, her smile turning methodical, “Will assist him. In the mornings, you will report to Mr. Takayama’s class to tend to Shippo’s learning, and after lunch you will report to the music room to aid Mr. Takahashi.”

Kagome gawked. Koga looked like he wanted to howl his disdain for the idea. Inuyasha … looked like a lot of things. Kaede, who apparently took all of that as the final word, pats her hand on the table as if it were a gavel. “Excellent. Meeting is over, you may report to your normal duties.” As she walks around the table, she places each of her hands on Inuyasha and Kagome’s backs and gives them pats. “Congratulations, you two, on your new partnership!” 

_Oh boy…_

**_What have I done?_ **


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome goes out to dinner with her mother and brother; inuyasha thinks about the day's events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howdy hey there. hope you're all having a good week! i'll be honest, my week this week's going infinitely better than last week, lmao, though that has everything to do with the fact that i ended up needing to go to the hospital and have surgery! luckily, i was in and out in a couple of days and am recovering at home. (it wasn't a horrific ordeal or anything, so if anyone's curious, just shoot me a message on tumblr lmao) but! onto the task at hand!
> 
> the sneak peek of ch10 will be up on saturday on my tumblr, which means the full chapter will come out on wednesday!! 
> 
> onto the chapter!

“Alright, Mom, Sota,” Kagome announces as she scoots into the booth, ruffling her brother’s hair where he sits beside her. “Order whatever you want!”

Mom gives her a smile. “What’s the occasion?” 

What _was_ the occasion, exactly? Well, for one, Kagome just really missed her mother and brother. Seeing as she was going to be taking on more responsibility at school, she wasn’t sure just how much energy she’d have every day. And well, there _was_ the occasion of being trusted to take on more responsibility, and … well, maybe Kagome also wanted to personally and secretly celebrate the new partnership and circumstances that would _surely_ let her rekindle her lost friendship with Inuyasha. 

“Occasion?” Kagome asks, mock-innocent, “Does there have to be an occasion for me to spend time with you, my most favorite mother and brother in the world?” 

“We’re your _only_ mother and brother, Kagome!” Sota argues, which earns him a couple of pokes in the ribs, which makes him squirm. “Hey, cut that out!” 

“Alright, okay, you got me,” Kagome grins. “But I _did_ miss you, too.” 

The waiter strolls up to their table and greets them with a tight smile, and Kagome offers a sympathetic one right back; the restaurant wasn’t terribly busy, but for a while now, they were understaffed. The three make their drink orders and Kagome orders them some mozzarella sticks, all the while thanking the waiter and doing her best to make it a painless exchange. She would tip him well. As the waiter walks away with their orders taken, Kagome turns back to her mother and purses her lips. 

“Okay, so. There _is_ some news. It’s good news, I … think.”

Mom looks at her, prompting her to continue with a nod and folding her fingers in front of her on the table. 

“So, I got to go to a meeting today. Turns out, Ms. Honda still needed to find a replacement for the music teacher that retired last year.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me they got _you_ to be the music teacher,” Sota groans, making Kagome glare at him, “You couldn’t carry a tune if it were in a bucket!”

Mom, despite herself, giggles. Kagome looks at Mom with a mock-insulted look. “You both are so mean- no, or … well, I guess, yeah? Yes and no.” 

“That seems … confident,” Mom comments teasingly, and Kagome sighs. 

“No- okay, so long story short, I got roped into assisting Inuyasha with it. Inuyasha is going to be the interim music teacher, and I’m going to be his assistant. All the while, I’ll still have my duties with Mr. Takayama.” 

The waiter returns with their drinks on a tray, greeting them again and handing out Mom’s water, Kagome’s Sprite, and Sota’s chocolate milk. “Your appetizer is almost done,” he says to Kagome, and she smiles and thanks him. He nods at her, smile a little more genuine but exhausted, before he makes his leave. Kagome takes a drink and sighs.

Mom eyes her curiously. “The same Inuyasha you used to play with?”

Kagome nods, adjusting in her seat and crossing her legs. “Yes! Though, I don’t think he remembers that. One look at me and he looks annoyed.” She leaves out the fact that they usually both end up annoyed, and every interaction they have is usually some sort of argument … well, except for the last one. He honestly seemed … something like grateful? “I’ve heard him play piano, he’s _really_ good. He obviously knows his stuff about music.” 

“Well, that’s exciting to hear. Maybe you’ll have the chance to reconnect, too.” Mom gives her a sneaky smile, and Kagome narrows her eyes just a little at her. 

“...yeah. But, anyway? How’s school been going for you, squirt?”

The rest of dinner goes pretty smoothly, the orders of mozzarella sticks coming out a little while after their drinks had and they sink into comfortable conversation about Sota’s classes and this girl at school that he likes. When their dinner orders come out a while later, Kagome’s content to eat in quiet, enjoying her cheeseburger and fries. Every once in a while, Mom asks a question, how her food was, how Sota’s was, and Kagome asks how hers is. Quiet falls on the table and it’s just … _nice_ to be around her family. 

Sota’s the first one to finish, and he asks Kagome if he can play a game on her phone. Taking it out and punching in her passcode, she hands it over to him. “Don’t go into anything else, ya twerp.” With a shining, innocent smile, he pushes onto a button and tilts the phone to the side. She hardly pays attention to him, instead choosing to look around and people-watch. 

There was a small family tucked away on the other side of the restaurant, and between them were two different groups of suited individuals. If anyone was giving the staff - particularly their waiter - a hard time, it was one of them, despite the family having three young children. One of them was even a baby!

Eventually, her mother’s voice draws her back to the table. 

“So, have you gotten a chance to talk to Inuyasha yet?” there was a mysterious sparkle in her eye as she asked, and it made Kagome’s eyebrows furrow in suspicion. All Mom does is sip her water.

“No … why?” 

“Oh, no reason. I just was curious. Are you going to?” 

“Mom, I don’t like that look in your eye…” 

All Mom does is smile at her, and Kagome has to fight the urge to duck her head in embarrassment. _It feels like she’s implying something, but what…?_

Finally, the waiter comes back a final time and asks if they wanted dessert or if they’d want the bill, and Kagome looks around as if asking if they wanted anything else. With two shakes of the head, Kagome asks for the bill and thanks the waiter politely before he nods and picks up their finished plates. A bit later, he comes back with the bill, and before Kagome can even grab her wallet, Mom picks up the bill immediately. “Mom, I was gonna pay!” 

“You’ve gotta be quicker than that, dear,” her mother sing-songs teasingly. Kagome deflates. 

“You’ve gotten sneakier in your wise old age.” 

At her mother’s little glare, Kagome giggles innocently. 

* * *

When the moon is high in the sky, Inuyasha finds himself wide awake, and that above _all_ else just _had_ to figure, didn’t it?

First, he was confronted by the old woman Kaede as soon as he got to school that morning and asked him if he would attend the meeting that morning. If she hadn’t been his boss, he might have told her to ‘fuck off’, but since she was, he couldn’t say no. Besides, that was not fair to her, considering all his life she’d only tried to be helpful after what happened all those years ago. 

But it wasn’t like he was going to go down without a fight, as was his constant mantra since he was young. They had traded words back and forth, something about ‘favor’ this and ‘reputation’ that, and maybe he had said something loud enough that the frustration he felt from the conversation lingered until he got inside the school, stomped up the steps and entered the library. That’s when he felt all the fight drain from him, leaving him exhausted, when he saw _that girl_ again. 

Second, speaking of _that girl_ … she had defended him not just once, but _twice_ . Once to that wolf, Koga, and he hoped his shock didn’t seem too obvious. No one really went out of their way to step up to bat for him, not since Mother. The second time was to that _damn_ Onigumo Nakamura, someone who had only ever drawn his own ire, considering the contempt he had for Inuyasha specifically. He was an intense demon in his own right, intense enough to seem predatory, which makes him wonder just why the old woman had hired him in the first place. 

And _god_. The _bullshit_ he’d gotten himself into, the third and final layer of the shitty cake. He’d accepted the offer to be the stupid music director after he had spent so fucking long in the dark, trying to run away from everything, the mistakes he had made … and now, even though he wants to regret it, he can’t help but remember the stupid look on the girl’s face and feel like what he did _wasn’t_ a mistake. 

Getting up from bed, Inuyasha pads barefoot across the cheap carpet of his bedroom, unlocking his window and opening it up; it had been such a long time since he had just _run_ , disappeared into a wooded area and not come out until he was covered in branches, in dirt, in whatever else he could roll around in to try and make himself remember when times were simpler. Taking a deep breath of the autumn breeze, he lets out a harsh sigh before he whirls away and pads out of his bedroom and into the hallway. 

It wasn’t likely that he’d be able to fall back to sleep, not that he really _needed_ to. One of the benefits of being a half-demon was that he could survive without sleep, though not completely. Every now and then he got a full night’s sleep followed by broken, restless sleep, so he didn’t see much of a point in going back to sleep if he knew he’d live without it. 

Walking into his little kitchen and flicking on the light, he walks immediately over to his tea kettle and fills it with fresh cold water before putting it back on his stove. Turning on the burner to medium-high heat, he walks over to the fridge and opens it, sulking that he hadn’t had the chance to do proper grocery shopping in a couple of weeks. Not that he didn’t have money; funny enough, he was actually pretty well-off, despite continuing to live in a small two-bedroom apartment. It was placed in a pretty run-down part of town, too, so rent was cheap, even if that reflected just how poorly taken care of the place was. That was part of the whole reason he bothered learning about maintenance work; there was never a shortage of people who needed their sinks fixed or a wall repaired.

And then … months ago…

“ _I want you to come work for me._ ”

_Doing what?_

“ _Y_ _ou can start with maintenance. I’m sure down the line, I’ll have something more fitting for you._ ”

_More fitting…?_

**_Perhaps you_ ** **_should_ ** **_have known, since you can’t seem to offer anything else to society._ **

...yeah. Right.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome and inuyasha share a brief moment at lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, well, well. hi! how the hell are ya? i hope everyone's staying safe and trying to enjoy yashahime to the best of their ability. i'm ... well, i'm trying to be optimistic for nostalgia's sake. i should really start analyzing some of the information provided so i can get my own theories going. i only have one right now that i'm fairly confident in. but, anyway!
> 
> i have FINALLY beaten my writing block with a gd stick. and i'm sorry that i forgot about the sneak peek last weekend!! i'll remember the sneak peek this weekend, promise! which means, look forward to another update next week!   
> (also, i decided to get rid of the chapter titles - listen, i'm bad at naming things, and idk why i thought it'd be a good idea to torture myself with titling them. especially when only like, three of them had titles that made /sense/ in my head. so! no more.)
> 
> i hope you enjoy!!  
> (and thanks to those who are leaving kudos and comments! they mean so, so much to me!!)

“Miss Kagome, is it true?” Shippo runs over to her on all fours, causing her to turn to him as she walks down the hall; the kids would be on their way to lunch soon, which meant that her duties for Mr. Takayama would be done for the day. “Is it true that I’m not gonna see you for the rest of the day today?” His little hands clutch onto the bottom of her cardigan, which she ended up needing today since it was due to rain in the afternoon. His big green eyes look up at her in sadness mixed with the possible hopefulness that he had heard wrong. 

Leaning over to pat his head lightly, she says, “Yeah, it’s true. But on days where you have music, you’ll see me!” 

“Are you our new music teacher?” he asks excitedly. 

“No, but I’m his assistant!” she grins then, remembering what that _brat_ Sota said to her at dinner on Friday night. “Unfortunately, I’m not very musically talented, but your new teacher is.” 

There was no missing the disappointment on his face, but her duties were final. 

At lunchtime, she runs to the teacher’s room to grab that day’s lunch from the faculty refrigerator - a turkey wrap, a cut-up apple with peanut butter, and a bottle of diet Coke - and heads right for the music room. The hallway is congested with children who had run to their lockers to get their lunches and were now moving quickly to the cafeteria, and Kagome lets them weave around her. The minute she reaches the music room’s staircase, she ducks into the narrow hallway and only manages to exhale in relief when she walks into the large music room. 

Or, maybe the exhale was from something else entirely, because standing in front of one of the big windows, facing away from her with a sandwich halfway to his mouth, was Inuyasha; all the other times she’d seen him, he was wearing those janitor coveralls, but now he was wearing a plain black tee shirt, plain jeans and work boots. The coveralls were apparently hiding his toned physique, which was now plainly obvious for her to see, even if he was just wearing what were considered normal clothes. Just about the only thing the same was his long hair pulled into a ponytail, giving her a healthy view of the muscles in his shoulders and back.

And furthermore, unlike all the other times she’d seen him, he was no longer wearing his bandana, the fabric tied around one of the belt loops on his left side, and instead showing the soft, white triangular dog ears that hid underneath. As soon as she let out her sigh, his left ear swiveled in her direction, and she found herself looking at it in interest before he spun around to face her. 

“Hey,” he said gruffly, talking around a mouthful of sandwich, and she made a face at that. “What ya lookin’ at?” 

Kagome walks fully into the room and takes up a spot on the bench by the piano, facing him, and crosses one leg over the other to place her food on her lap. “I’m not used to seeing you in normal clothes, that’s all.” 

“Well, it ain’t like all I own are janitor’s clothes.” With a hot look, obviously annoyed by her word choices, he turns back toward the window and looks out at the grounds. “And while you’re here, let’s get one thing straight - I’m not here to make friends, so everything you’re doin’ is a waste of time.”

Blinking harshly - what the _hell_ was his issue all of a sudden - before glaring at his back, she puts her lunch on the top of the piano and stands up, crossing her arms under her chest. “I’m not _trying_ to do anything, _dog boy_ , so I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“ _Dog boy_ ?” he turns to her, obviously confused but just as obviously reserved. His face when Kagome points to his ears is _priceless,_ embarrassed and shocked, and he looks down at his belt loop at the bandana before cursing under his breath. His fingers quickly untangle the pink garment and move to quickly cover his ears before Kagome shouts something like ‘Wait!’ and he pauses. “What?”

The speed at which her fingers carefully grab one of his ears is surprising, but when she starts to carefully rub it and doesn’t tug, he’s startled at how quickly his nerves melt. She continues to very gently rub them, from the base close to his skull to the tip, and her nails very lightly graze the sensitive sides. Every alarm is going off in his head at the fact that the coiled tension in his shoulders is easing, and if she had continued her ministrations, he might have fallen asleep. Thankfully, she pulls her hand away, and when their eyes meet, her face becomes bright pink. 

“I… I… I’m sorry, I don’t- they’re just so _cute_ and-” she stammers. It doesn’t look like she’d be finishing a single thought for the time being, and she avoids his eyes by looking to the side. Inuyasha clears his throat, gets as far as draping the bandana over them but doesn't tie it just yet. Kagome looks up at the bandana, pouts, and reaches behind her to grab her lunch again. “Why do you cover them? Doesn’t it hurt?” 

Inuyasha sighs, eyes glaring at the floor. “It’s … uncomfortable, but I don’t want the little runts to see ‘em and-” _do what you did_ was very blatantly clear, and Kagome suddenly feels a rush of guilt. “Besides, I just prefer to keep ‘em hidden.” 

“ _He’s like me … a half-demon._ ”

Oh. 

_I get it now..._

Setting her food down again - one of these times, she’d actually start eating - she walks up to him and reaches both of her hands up again, and the way his entire body flinches and his eyes squeeze tight does something to her heart, and her fingers carefully smooth the pink bandana over his ears and even out each of the sides so she can tie the two ends underneath. Her fingers carefully tie the ends into a clean knot, and when she’s finished, she leaves her hands on the sides of his neck. His eyes are looking right at her, wide, the amber more of a molten gold as he stares directly into her eyes. 

“Inuyasha?” 

“Yeah, what?” 

“I just-” 

The sound of footsteps entering the music room go completely unnoticed until one of the voices calls out to them. “Ah, Miss Higurashi, Mr. Takahashi, while I _was_ hoping you would get along, I wasn’t expecting _this_ much.”

First, Inuyasha whips his head to the side at the same time as Kagome pulls her hands away from him, their expressions very different from one another; Kagome was completely blushing, she could feel it in her face, and her heart was beating a mile a minute as she stared at Kaede across the room. Her expression was incredibly amused as she gazed back at the two. Inuyasha, meanwhile, looks absolutely annoyed, maybe close to angry, though that might have everything to do with the fact that with Kaede was Mr. Nakamura. When Kagome gets hold of herself, she looks at him and feels her own frustration start to claw forward past her embarrassment. 

It surprised Kagome a little bit when Inuyasha’s hand reached for her wrist and dragged her behind him. 

“Hello, _Inuyasha_ ,” so much contempt in Mr. Nakamura’s voice. It makes Kagome’s blood bubble protectively, and her fingers dig into Inuyasha’s side, clutching his shirt. 

“Nakamura.” 

Kagome looks up at Inuyasha, whose eyes haven’t left Mr. Nakamura, and then looks to Kaede. She looks to be concerned by the animosity between the two, and the way that he was protecting Kagome seemingly _from_ Mr. Nakamura. 

“U-Um … what can we do for you?” Kagome squeaks from behind Inuyasha. His arm starts to reach back to hide her more, but she pushes at it slightly to stand more in view of Kaede. 

“I just wanted to check to make sure you were aware of how your schedule was going to look,” thankfully, Kaede’s voice loses her teasing tone, instead choosing to mediate. “Mr. Takahashi, you’ll have the lower grades’ music class right after lunch, and the upper grades’ at the end of the day. Please don’t forget.”

Inuyasha nods. 

“If you should need anything, don’t hesitate to call on me, and I can get you any supplies you might need within a week.”

“Fine. Anything else?” 

Mr. Nakamura’s eyes morph to something icy that makes Kagome’s fingers tighten at Inuyasha’s waist. “Don’t be so insubordinate, _pup_.” 

A growl rips out of Inuyasha, and Kagome purses her lips together before grabbing his shoulder and offering a squeeze. He doesn’t even notice her silent comfort. 

Kaede turns to Mr. Nakamura and says something to him that makes him frown, but he nods and turns out of the room. For a moment, Kagome feels Inuyasha’s hand grab onto hers and give a squeeze back, before he takes his hand back and whirls away from her to start pacing in front of the windows. Kagome blinks, confused, before reaching back to find where the bench was to pull it out more so she could sit on it. Kaede walks more fully into the room. “I apologize, Inuyasha. I didn’t think when-” 

Inuyasha growls at her, and even though Kaede doesn’t react, Kagome does. Her eyes widen and she looks up at Inuyasha, not sure how to respond. 

_Mr. Nakamura doesn’t like Inuyasha. And Inuyasha …_ _protected me_ _from him. What are they to each other?_

“No matter,” Kaede says with finality. “He shall not accompany me when I stop by. How are things going?” 

Kagome slowly turns her head back toward the older woman, reaching for her lunch and playing with the curve of one of the apple slices. “Um, things are okay. Right, Inuyasha?” 

Inuyasha doesn’t respond, clenching and unclenching his hands, and Kagome watches silently. Kaede might sense the emotional energy in the air, for she nods at Kagome and turns to take her leave, though looks over her shoulder at Kagome. “Please help him get his temper under control, Kagome. The students will be done eating soon, and your first class is soon after that.” 

Kagome nods at Kaede’s retreating back, and almost as soon as she’s out of the room, Kagome’s attention focuses on Inuyasha once more. “Inu...yasha? Are you alright?”

His growl is more of a grunt, his pacing not as desperate, and as he swings his body back toward her he collapses in one of the chairs set up in front of her, head hung over his hands draped over his lap. “That _damn_ Onigumo sets something off in my blood...” He sounded exhausted, and Kagome got up and sat in a chair beside him. 

“I gathered that much at the meeting last week,” she says quietly, sympathetically. Inuyasha sighs. “If you want … you can talk to me about it. I mean, you might as well, since you felt the need to protect me and all.” 

She watches his cheeks flush a little at that. “We just … have a history. Sorry.” 

_Is he apologizing for protecting me? Or, for something else?_

“It’s okay,” and it was, it _was_ okay. “If you ever want to talk about it, we could go out for drinks, or talk during lunch. Whatever.” 

Inuyasha looks over at her, breathes in deeply, then exhales a “Yeah,” under his breath. Kagome offers a small smile in return, exuding comfort, and she puts her hand on his shoulder as she stands, walking back to her lunch. She wouldn’t have time to eat it at this rate, maybe half of her wrap. He watches her quietly, puts his head back down, and doesn’t say anything else. 

In all honesty, Kagome isn’t sure if they’d made a couple of steps forward or a couple of steps back, but if the look he’s sending her under his bangs is any indication, she _has_ to hope for the former. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha teaches his first music class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey! how's it goin'? i hope everyone's doing about as well as we all can be. 
> 
> i'm absolutely _loving_ everyone's comments, thank you so much! these dopes are so fun to write, and this plot is something i've had rolling around in my head for a long time, though the intended fandom it was for wasn't this one. nevertheless, writing it is a delight, i just hope you're just as delighted to continue on this journey with me, as it's proving to be a long one lmao. 
> 
> you all know the drill - update next week, oct 28, which means a sneak peek of ch12 coming at you ... hopefully on saturday? if not, definitely sunday. check my tumblr for that when the time comes!
> 
> onto the fun! >:D

In record time, the lunch bell rings over the speakers as she _finally_ finishes with her lunch and puts it squared away. She dusts her hand over the top of the piano to dust off any crumbs or dust and moves to get a full, proper lay of the music room before the children all pile in; the room wasn’t as big as the library but was definitely double the size of Mr. Takayama’s classroom, and there was a whiteboard that could be wheeled around the room. It was sitting facing the middle of the room at an angle, and there were fifteen chairs set up in three rows of five in front of it. On the wall with the large windows was three file cabinets, and a desk tucked away in the back with a computer on it.

Kagome had to hand it to him: despite his frustration before, it looked like he was taking it seriously.

There would be little time for them to do or say much before the younger children would all filter in, so she walks over to where he was standing in front of the board, a marker in his right hand as his left is pressed to his nose. “God, this stinks,” he grumbles, and she barely thinks twice before reaching into her pocket to pull out the handkerchief he’d let her borrow and reaches up to unceremoniously push it against his face. “Guh, hey!” 

“Oh hush, and use it,” she teases, crossing her arms. When he does and gives her a sidelong look, she hums in thought. “So what are you doing?” 

He had drawn a table of sorts, with the title of each column the name of a type of instrument: strings, percussion, woodwinds and brass. Tilting her head, she watches as he turns away from the board, capping the marker and pushing it into her crossed arms as he walks away, and she makes a surprised sound. Her fingers close around the marker, and she’s about to walk over to see what he was doing now - hunched over something in the corner that she hadn’t seen before - when she hears children’s excited chattering come through the hallway, and she turns around to greet them. 

“Hi, good afternoon! Go ahead and sit down here!” 

The children all follow her instruction, first sitting in small groups separated from each other, and she makes a face at that. “Scoot in together, you guys, make some friends.” As they all scoot closer together, Kagome turns away from them and walks over to Inuyasha, who had slung the bag over his right shoulder and was walking back over to her. “Inu- Mr. Takahashi?” 

“Alright, runts.” Kagome feels her eyes widen. His name almost flies out of her mouth in utter frustration. “I’m Mr. Takahashi, but since that might be too many parts for ya, you can just call me Inuyasha.” She looks out across the class and sees little girls giggling and looking at him. Pretending not to notice, she looks back up at Inuyasha and tries to ask with her eyes _What the hell are you doing?_ “This is Miss Higurashi. We’re gonna be teaching you all about music, but this isn’t gonna be your plain, boring music class.” Dropping the bag at his feet carefully, he crosses his arms, like he’s expecting them to understand what he’s doing. 

Just like that, Inuyasha turns to her and points to the board. “Can you write for me?” 

“Yeah, but-” 

“Okay,” he turns back to the children and huffs out a breath. “We’re gonna go around the room and say what our favorite instrument is, and Miss Higurashi is gonna write it on the board. If there’s multiple, pick your next favorite. Then, we’re gonna figure out what kind of instrument they are. Sound easy enough?” 

A chorus of “Yeah’s” respond to him, and he points to the left-front seat. The child sits up a little straighter and calls out, “Trumpet!” and Inuyasha looks at her. Nodding her head, she writes it neatly beside the table. They continue down the row, and before long, they fill the board with all sorts of instruments. After the last child says their instrument, Kagome puts the cap back on the marker and looks to Inuyasha curiously.

“Okay. Now, I’m gonna tell ya what all these words - brass, woodwind, string, and percussion - mean.” Kagome's surprised how simply he explains each of the words' definitions, and when he finishes doing so, she watches the group of kids' eyes brighten with understanding, and she looks to Inuyasha to see him patiently look out at them. Satisfied, he says, “Now. Who wants to guess what your favorite instrument’s type is?” 

One by one, the children all try their hand at guessing, and Kagome beams with pride when they get them right. One by one, she adds an instrument to their respective column, and when they’re all organized, she caps the marker, this time thrilling at the satisfied _click_. She puts the marker on the bottom of the board and walks back over to Inuyasha, folding her hands in front of her patiently. 

“Mr. Nunuyasha?” 

Kagome has to cover her mouth and nose to try and muffle the snort, but it was of no use. Inuyasha elbows her lightly, and the way his voice slowly drips from his lips shows how much restraint he was using to not get annoyed by the girl's butchering of his name. “What is it? ...you know, if it’s too hard to say, just call me Mr. Yasha.” 

“Mmm…Mr. Yasha?” he nods at the little girl, who Kagome recognizes as both someone in Mr. Takayama’s class and one of the girls who had been giggling earlier. _Oh, this ought to be good!_ “Are you and Miss Kagome married?” 

Kagome’s eyes widen and she gasps so hard that she sends herself into a coughing fit. She coughs into her elbow, and once she’s able to draw in a breath without triggering another round of coughs, she covers her cheeks with both hands. Inuyasha looks no less shocked by the question, though his reaction is much more subdued, his hand dragging down his face and covering his mouth with trembling, clawed fingers. 

Apparently, their reactions to such a question are _hilarious_ , because the children all start to giggle. She only feels her face get warmer, and she clears her throat and tries to get them back on track. 

“We aren’t married!” she says too cheerfully. “Let’s just … focus on what _Mr. Nunuyasha_ has to teach us, okay?” 

The giggles get louder, and she feels her face’s temperature start to go down. Inuyasha’s hand falls from his mouth and his head whips to her and gives her an incredulous expression. Like, _Really? Back to that are we?_

She at least thinks to mouth “Sorry” at him. He doesn’t look like he believes her though. 

“A-Alright,” he croaks out. “No more personal questions.” Clearing his throat, he bends down and unzips the bag and opens it a bit at the top to show it's contents. Kagome peered over his shoulder, then froze. They were … instruments? But ones that anyone could find at a toy store: a xylophone, small drums, a toy guitar, a couple of kazoos and maracas. With a grin, Inuyasha asks a question that makes the children cheer in delight so loudly that Kagome sees him wince and his ears under the bandana twitch and flatten back. 

“So. Who wants to make some noise?” 

* * *

As the last of the students filter out of the class, Kagome’s laughter echoes in the now-empty room and she claps her hands. “Oh my gosh, that was _amazing_!”

Inuyasha glances up at her as he starts to collect the instruments, carefully sticking them back in the duffel bag. His eyes sparkle in amusement, even if he was trying to act annoyed at her delight. “It wasn’t _that_ big a deal. Calm down, _Ka-go-me._ ” 

She sticks out her tongue at him. “Just because you’re no fun, doesn’t mean you have to drag the rest of us down, _Inu-ya-sha_.” 

His nose pinches, but the glare she expects to see doesn’t come. Instead, his eyes are bright, almost electric, and Kagome looks at him with a slight smile. At that, he quickly looks away, putting his focus back on the instruments as he puts some more in the bag. 

There was no denying, after their last encounters and today's rousing success, that he didn’t hate her as much as she thought he might. Maybe that meant… “Hey, Inuyasha?” 

“Mm?” he doesn’t look up at her, but his right ear twitches toward her. Kagome smiles at him. 

“Do you … um, _would_ you, go out for drinks with me sometime? Maybe on a Friday night?” 

His hands slow in their movements. “Like a, uh…”

“U-Uh!” her face heats up again. “It doesn’t have to be that! I just meant … well, I just want to get to know you better. We could just hang out?” 

“Is that what you wanted to ask ‘in private’ before?” Having put the last of the instruments in the bag, he stands up straight and slings the bag strap over his shoulder. As he walks away to put it back in the corner where he'd stashed it before, she follows, but stays a comfortable distance away so as not to spook him. When he turns around, she nods slightly. 

“Yeah. I just- yeah, that was it.” 

Inuyasha huffs - less like he’s annoyed and more in … relief maybe? - and puts his hands on his hips. “Guess so. I’ll have to check my calendar.” 

Kagome puts on her best smirk. “What, you have a date coming up or something?" Doing her best to be lighthearted, she gives him one solid elbow to the ribs, trying to egg him on. "Hmm?"

“Stoooop.” His hand shoots to her head and pushes her away, very little strength needed to do so. At her answering pout and subsequent flail to get his hand out of her hair, he exhales, his nostrils flaring. “It’s none’a your business. I _could_ have one.” 

Narrowing her eyes, she claps her hands on either side of his wrist and lifts it off the top of her head. As he takes his hand back and sticks it in his jean pocket, she crosses her arms. “Uh huh. You’re no fun.” 

Instead of delighting her with a retort, he sticks his other hand in his pocket and turns toward the window. “Got a bit ‘til the next class. Guess I should prepare for that.” 

“I’ll help!”

He gives her a funny look, like a mix of surprise and gratitude, before he walks over to the file cabinets by the windows. Kagome follows him, standing just off to the side, and he quietly tells her to find a piece of music that’s arranged for two parts. Nodding her head, she looks through the back as he carefully starts his search in the front. By the time they reach the middle, they had found a combined four songs. They had two classes and a recess in between until the older kids’ music class would start. That gave them plenty of time to look through and choose one song to show to the students. 

All the while, Inuyasha stayed incredibly focused and muttered things under his breath that she didn’t quite catch. She might have heard him say something about ‘pitch’ - she _hoped_ he didn’t say ‘bitch’, because all things considered she thought their first day as partners went pretty okay - but she couldn’t be sure. Part of her was surprised at how seriously he was taking this, for someone who seemed so annoyed. 

Just who _was_ Inuyasha Takahashi, anyway?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome and inuyasha go out for drinks, where she shows him the photo...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello there! happy wednesday! 
> 
> this chapter (aside from being about TWICE the size of the other ones...) includes a scene that MANY people have messaged me about - finally, kagome shows inuyasha the picture! what will inuyasha's reaction be? how will he react when he realizes why she's seemed so familiar? hmmmm. guess you'll have to take a gander and find out!! then come scream it at me. :D
> 
> as per usual: update next wednesday, nov 4, which means ch13 sneak peek on saturday (? at this point, i'm never sure if it's gonna be saturday or sunday, but HOPEFULLY it'll be saturday) 
> 
> enjoy!!

All things considered, the next couple of weeks are unexpected, if Inuyasha had to choose a word for it. 

For starters, he actually didn’t _mind_ this new gig, teaching kids about music. It got him about as close to the subject as he could without eliciting the wrath of his past, for starters, and even though he hadn’t been around kids that much in his life, they weren’t the worst part of his new position. If he had to admit anything, he might say where he gets most of his bad feelings was being so close to the piano and not having the courage - was it courage? - to reach out for it and breach that gap again. Music used to be such a comforting presence, like ‘home’, and to abstain from it like he was, when it was _right there_ , was like standing a hair’s breadth away from the edge of an empty, dark chasm.

The worst part of it hadn’t had anything to do with the students, even the younger ones. It wasn’t being around music. Hell, it wasn’t even Kagome, who the past couple of weeks had been someone he had grown surprisingly civil with. They would, in fact, be going out on Friday night for drinks and, no doubt, some much-needed team building. 

No. Above all else, the part that sucked the most was that no matter how many times he put out the constant wave of _Stay the hell away from me_ with his aura, fucking _Onigumo Nakamura_ kept breaching his bubble. After all this time, those snide remarks still got themselves stuck in his heart like painful barbs. To make it worse, the bastard always looked at him like it was only a matter of time until he'd destroy the entire school, like no matter what, he would be responsible for it's downfall.

It made him sick - the look, who he was receiving it from. Gods, he _hated_ Nakamura. 

What made it worse was that his presence made Kagome uncomfortable, too. Not that they were super close or anything, but Inuyasha felt a little responsible for her now, with her being a human and all. He knew from personal experience that Nakamura would do whatever it took to get under his skin, and that would no doubt mean doing something to an unsuspecting, sorta-innocent human woman like Kagome, and he wasn’t about to let that happen if he could help it.

She’d be safe, as long as he could keep his head on. 

* * *

“Hey, Inuyasha,” Kagome leans over the top of the piano, one arm propped with her hand holding her cheek as her other is splayed out across the smooth wooden surface. At the sound of her voice, his ear twitches and swivels in her direction, but he doesn’t make any other indication that he’d heard her. She feels herself smiling; more and more in recent weeks, he had kept the bandana off of his ears as they waited for the children to arrive, and she couldn’t help but think that maybe he trusted her a little more. Or, at the very least, liked her more. “How come you haven’t played the piano again?” _Is it my fault?_

From where he’s sitting, which was at a simple table that he was using as a desk, she watches his body twitch and shudder. There’s a flash of fear on his face, like he was recalling something horrible that he hadn’t thought about in a long time, and he does his best not to look like he’d heard her, ducking his head. His eyes are hidden under his bangs, and as she lets her eyes rove over the rest of his body language, she can see his ears flat in his hair. She was no expert on canines, but she knew enough about the body language of humans to be able to see that he didn’t want to have this conversation. 

A stubborn part of her wants to tell him _Too bad_ , but remembering what Sango had told her over the phone a few weeks back gives her pause. It had haunted her for a while. 

“ _You don’t know what his life’s been like…_ ”

Her expression changes from curiosity to sorrow.

When he makes no move to answer her after a few minutes, she adjusts her spine, standing straight and uncurling herself from the piano to walk around it and pull the closest chair over to the desk. Sitting down in it, she carefully puts her hand over his phone screen to push it down so it landed safely on the table. He lets her, but still doesn’t look so much as in her general direction. It’s something of a good sign, at least, that he’s not shoving her away or bursting into an angry fit. 

“Inu...yasha?” 

“I just … have a real … complicated relationship with playing music.” 

“In front of people? Or in general?” 

“A … little bit of both.”

Kagome hums to herself, thoughtful and understanding, and she turns slightly in the chair so she wasn’t looking directly at him. Whatever had happened to make him feel that way must have been awful, considering how comfortable he looked sitting at the piano. Her heart clenches inside her chest and she reaches her hand up to clasp the front of her shirt, like it would alleviate the pressure in her heart. Looking back over at Inuyasha, she goes to open her mouth, but sees him looking at her with a curious expression on his face. 

“What’s with the look?” he asks, one eyebrow cocked up. 

“Huh?” Judging by the way his eyes narrow, there was no pretending she didn’t know what he was talking about. Pushing her lips together as she tried to figure out what it was she wanted to say, she inhaled through her nose. As she exhales, she opens her mouth again. “I just was curious. I knew if Ms. Honda asked you to do this, you _had_ to be a good musician, but I-” _I also wanted to know what happened, after I left_. 

“Maybe I _was_ a long time ago,” he says, face nostalgic. Then realizing what he said, his body tenses up. “Wh-What I mean is-” 

Kagome can’t help but simply watch him fumble over himself, and she inwardly wonders why. And, what made the ‘relationship’, as he put it, complicated? “I guess it doesn’t matter what the nitty gritty details are,” she quickly reasons, watching how the tightly-coiled tension in his shoulders and back starts to bleed out slowly. “I wasn’t trying to make you upset or uncomfortable, I was only wondering.” 

Inuyasha looks at her through hooded eyes, sighs, then starts to stand. “The brats will be here soon. Better get ready.” As he walks by her, he ruffles her bangs, and her indignant shout of “ _Hey!_ ” makes the corner of his mouth quirk up. It might not have been the way she wanted to finish the conversation, but she’d take that smirk over the expression he’d had on his face earlier any day. She’d find out what she wanted to know another time. 

* * *

When Friday night rolls around, Kagome’s drained and ready for drinks. 

The place she had picked was usually not hugely packed, even on the weekends. She used to come here all the time with her girlfriends, before work on all sides got hectic. The inside wasn’t huge and had a long bar to the side of the door with beaten-up stools in front of it. Along the far wall was a line of tables meant to seat two to three people, and in the middle were larger tables meant to sit larger groups. 

One of the biggest perks of this bar compared to the couple others in town was that this was a hop, skip and a jump from her apartment. In other words, she could walk there and back with no issues. 

They had decided to meet here instead of one picking the other up, which meant she could really get herself dolled up for a night out; after a quick shower, she’d pulled her hair into a braid and ignored the stray hairs that stuck up out of it. She’d picked a pair of clean dark wash jeans that had a decorative tear at her mid-thigh, and a white blouse that hung off her shoulders and had a band wrap around her waist, accentuating the curve of her hips. She had on a comfortable pair of sneakers, though secretly wished she had let him pick her up or something so she could wear a pair of heels that looked _perfect_ with the outfit. As she checked herself in the mirror, she smiled, content with the look before she whipped out her tube of mascara and applied it. She grabbed a black purse that had a long strap and put it on her shoulder, sticking the tube inside and checked that she had everything she might need before starting out the door.

Her cheeks were pretty flushed with anticipation, so she didn’t bother putting any blush on. She opted for chapstick instead of lipstick, figuring her lips had been pretty dry lately and could use the hydration. 

When she got inside, there were three people sitting at the bar and a couple sitting at one of the far tables. All in all, she was glad that not a lot of people would be coming, since she was sure more than this would bother Inuyasha’s nose. She heads toward the bar and sits down at a stool on the end, and as the bartender comes over and leans over the counter to ask what she wanted, her stomach growls and she feels her face flush hot. After ordering some nachos, she says she’ll wait for her date - the word slipped out, she swears! - and takes her phone out of her jean pocket. 

‘ _I’m here by the counter!_ ’ She texts him. Setting her phone on the table and making sure she set her phone to ‘vibrate’ so as not to disturb the bar, she spins around and leans her elbows against the counter, taking in the simple but cozy bar, bobbing her foot to the beat of the soft rock playing over the speakers. 

When his response comes, she finds herself grinning. ‘ **Be there soon** ‘

It’s only another few minutes before the door to the little bar opens again, and when she looks at them, she can’t help but let out a little pout; in contrast to her, having gussied herself up a bit, Inuyasha was in the same clothes he was in earlier, his hair pulled into a ponytail and his ears covered by its usual pink bandana. His eyes roamed the small room until he found her, and at her expression, he blinked at her, and as he walked over he inquired hesitantly, “What’re you looking at me like that for?” 

“Jeez, if I knew you were going to be in the same clothes as I saw you in earlier, I would have told you it _was_ a date!” 

A startled choking sound is his response. “What’s yer problem?” More like a demand than a question, and he plops down in the stool beside her. “It ain’t like my clothes are all fancy or nothin’! I got tee shirts and jeans, then the red uniform, so take your pick, Kagome!” 

“Ugh! What, am I supposed to take you shopping for nice clothes or something?” at his pleading expression, _Please don’t_ , all steam seeps out of her and she drags her hands down her face. “You're such a weirdo."

“Counter offer,” he says, voice stuck in the gravelly tone, “we don’t do that, and instead we order some damn drinks, like what we came for?” 

Sticking her tongue out, she stretches her arms over her head and spins around on the stool. “Fine, fine.”

The bartender comes over, his eyes trained on Inuyasha for a second too long before they fell on Kagome’s face, and he asks, “Is everything alright over here?” Kagome nods her head, sighing to herself, before saying she was ready to make her drink order. She doesn’t notice the guarded expression on her companion’s face, not until he’s turning his face away. 

“What do you want?” she asks kindly, poking Inuyasha in the ribs. His body flinches, he turns to glare at her, before scoffing. Sighing, she says, “I’ll have a vodka cranberry.” The bartender starts to walk away, and Kagome starts to call out in protest, ready to argue that Inuyasha hadn’t ordered _his_ drink before she hears Inuyasha scoff again. _Keh_. 

“Did you want something to drink? Or eat, maybe?” 

“Don’t matter,” he grumbles. “Won’t serve me anyway.” 

Something hits her then - the world was not without its prejudices still against demons, and Inuyasha was half-human. In their eyes, he must be … _no_. Anger bubbles in her blood, and she makes a noise of frustration. That pulls her companion’s - and the people around them, too - attention to her, expression a little shocked, before he has about two seconds to grab her shoulder at the same time as she starts to stand up, probably to give the bartender a piece of her mind. 

“Kagome, let it go, will ya?” 

“Hell no!” 

Another employee walks over with a plate of nachos, tells her “Enjoy, miss!” before walking away. They were dressed pretty casually, a black apron tied around their waist, which appeared to be the only uniform the establishment had as she peers over and sees the bartender with a similar black apron. With a slight scoff of her own, she pulls the plate closer to the pair and takes a particular couple of chips loaded with cheese, tomato and sliced jalapeno. Momentarily distracted by her food, she crunches angrily, and manages a slanted look over at Inuyasha, who watches her with mild interest. Perking up a little bit, she swallows her mouthful and offers as much a smile as she can. 

“Have some! They’re good.” 

Looking down at the plate, he cautiously reaches to grab a chip, brushing off one of the slices of jalapeno. At her questioning gaze, he says simply, “I don’t do heat,” and shoves a whole chip into his mouth. At the same time he takes another one, the bartender brings her drink over, and she thanks him in a clipped tone before pulling it close to her person; she’d heard stories and seen plenty of video online about people slipping things into people’s drinks, and while she hadn’t heard of anything like that happening here, she wasn’t about to be the first one in the news. She takes a sip, rests the glass on the table, and pokes at Inuyasha’s leg with her foot. 

“So. I have something for you.” 

“Like what?” his caution is noted, and she flashes him a small smile but doesn’t offer any explanation. He leans back a little as she reaches for her bag and pulls it onto her lap, unzipping it and reaching inside. She pulls out a picture and hands it over to him. He takes it carefully, narrowing his eyes cautiously, before he looks down at the picture. As he lifts it up to examine, she can see her mother’s penmanship on the back, a neat ‘Kagome, 5 and Inuyasha, 6’ in the center. Beaming, she takes another chip and chomps happily on it. 

“Where did-” then he stops. He looks at her, turning the picture around and reads the caption, and he nearly drops the picture on the ground in his surprise. “ _You_. You’re _that_ Kagome.” 

Nodding her head, she says, “Yeah! I was so shocked when I found it- my first day, when I saw you, I _swore_ I recognized you but I didn’t know from where.” Then, she reaches up without warning and brushes her fingertips where she knew his ears were. They respond and flick at her touch. “If I hadn’t known by the time I saw your ears, I would have known then. Crazy, right?”

Recognition seems to dawn on him then, and as he carefully hands the picture back, he presses his lips together in a grim line and puts the tip of his thumb claw into his mouth, chewing it in thought. Then, he looks at her again, his eyes questioning. “You moved away.” 

“My little brother was born and we needed a bigger place,” she explained. “My grandfather was moving in with us to help, and the house we had was too small for everyone.” Leaning forward and placing her hand on his knee, she said with a hint of hope, “That’s why I wanted to meet tonight. I wanted to reconnect. It’s been _so long_ and you were my _best friend_. We played until nighttime some nights.” 

“I remember,” he said in a sigh. “Do you … remember the day we first met?” 

She did. 

“I could never forget that day,” she confesses, her voice just above a whisper. An angry whisper, at that. “I was playing in the backyard, and I heard the other kids on our street playing at the tree line, at that creek that ran through everyone’s backyard. I ran to tell Mom I was gonna go play too. I heard them cheering and laughing, and I wanted to join in … and then…”

The image had haunted her for a couple of weeks back then: the biggest boy on the street, a third grader, was holding someone face down in the water, calling them names: _mutt, half-breed_ . Another boy had a pair of scissors in one hand and a lock of silver-white hair in the other, and another was shouting “ _His ears, do his ears next!_ ” Kagome didn’t even wait to find out what they were talking about before she was screaming for Mom, who was setting up a place to sit in the backyard to watch over them all, and she had run down to the water and was trying to push her way through the group before she could even process her mother’s concerned yelling. 

“They wanted to cut my ears off.” 

“I wasn’t gonna let ‘em,” Kagome says with finality. “I was _so_ angry that day, and scared, but-” 

Inuyasha looked at her with a brand new expression - _Was that ... pride?_ \- on his face, and Kagome looked at him, her eyes wide. “Yeah, well, for someone who was so ‘scared’, ya sure did punch the _shit_ outta that kid. I bet your right-hook is still killer.” 

“I wouldn’t know,” she giggled, “I haven’t had to punch anyone in _literal_ decades.” 

“Jeez, you’re old.” 

“You’re such a jerk.” 

It was the first time she’d said it without a single ounce of bite, instead grinning at him. It was … well, nice was a good word for it, whatever this was - they were sitting, talking, having a normal conversation and there wasn’t an ounce of the usual tension that was normally there. Kagome really liked it. She wanted to do this more, with Inuyasha, and she was beginning to think that maybe he might want it too. 

The rest of their time at the bar is spent with equal parts banter and friendly conversation, both of them taking turns steering it in whatever direction they decided to go down. It had been a long time since she’d spent so much time with another adult who wasn’t family, and she was glad for the company. A couple of hours - and some more vodka cranberries - later, Kagome was a little buzzed, her brain foggy enough that what little filter she had were down. To Inuyasha, she was _apparently_ in no state to walk home alone, so he offered to drive her to her apartment. 

“C’mon, Kagome,” for once, he didn’t say it like he was teasing her. “I’ll drive ya home. Besides, more people are comin’ in and all the smells are getting to me.” 

“Yeah, sensitive nose,” she said in agreement. Luckily, she wasn’t at the point of slurring or anything, just extra perky and very warm. “I guess I’m ready. Thanks for coming out with me. And don’t worry, the next time we go out _you_ can pick a place we can go.” 

Inuyasha looks down at her, an eyebrow raised. “Next time? What makes you think there’s gonna be a next time?” 

Kagome starts to get off her stool, if only for her to put her hands on her hips for added effect. It doesn’t work, apparently, if him raising one dark brow questioningly was anything to go by. “Of course there will be! Admit it, dog boy, you had a good time tonight. Come on, admit you liiiike me.” 

“I don’t _dislike_ you.” 

“Jerk.” 

“Y’know, you’ve called me that enough times, I’m starting to think it’s a term of endearment.” 

“Oh yeah. When I call you ‘jerk’, what I really mean is-” 

“Hey, Kagome!” Then, after a beat… “...mutt face. What are you doing here? Are you two on a … date?” 

Kagome turns slightly to look at Koga, who cleaned up pretty well: he was dressed in a plain white tee shirt that hugged his thin body, showing off his broad shoulders and flat stomach that looked ribbed with abs underneath. He was wearing shorts, which showed off his incredibly muscular legs. His hair was put up in a neat ponytail, like always, and his eyes smoldered under the yellowed lights of the bar. 

“Oh. Hey, Koga,” she says simply, giving him a little smile. “We’re just hanging out, right, Inuyasha?” 

As she looked up at him, she noticed the two were glaring at each other, and she looked between them for a couple beats before sighing to herself. Seriously, they were being ridiculous! If she didn’t know any better, she might have guessed Koga was jealous, which he had no reason to be. It’s not like she was _with_ either of them, and she was allowed to hang out with people her own age, damn it! “Oh, come on you two. Can’t we do this another time? Inuyasha and I were about to go-” 

“Y’know, I’m glad we chose this time to leave,” he says, then gets an unfriendly smirk on his face. “Now the place is gonna smell like _wolf_.” 

“What did you say, you stinkin’ mutt?!” 

“Koga … come on--”

“Oh, you didn’t hear me through all the _shit_ you’re full of?”

“Inu- _yasha_ …!”

“Today’s the day, dog-breath, I’m gonna wipe you out for good!” 

“STOP!”

By the time she had finally managed to get them to listen to her, her voice had reached a pitch it usually didn’t, much louder and pinched than she was used to. However, it was the only way she could think to get them to just … _stop_ making a scene, and for what it was worth, it had at least worked. Koga was looking at her, wide-eyed, and Inuyasha had winced but didn’t otherwise do or say anything. The former looked like he was ready to make an apology, had already started to reach for her hand, but she put both of her hands on her hips in an attempt to show him _and_ her companion that she might be a little buzzed, but she was also _serious_. 

“Jeez, get a clue, you two! This isn’t a boxing ring, it’s a bar, and we’re not about to start a _brawl_ in this little space. Inuyasha and I were just _leaving_ , so we’ll see you at school, Koga.” 

“Yeah. I’m sorry Kagome, but-” 

Kagome glares - in what was her best impression of Inuyasha the first couple of times they’d talked - at him, and he at least has enough brains to shrink back and throw his hands up defensively. “No buts! I’m drunk and I’m hot and I want to go home.” Those were half-lies at most, and surely Koga knew that. Inuyasha, meanwhile, puts a hand at the small of her back and grunts under his breath before leading her out. Thankful for the pressure, she moves with it, and once she gets out and the cool night air hits her face, she lets out a sigh. “Jeez, I don’t know why he’s so damn protective, or whatever he is! Ugh!”

Inuyasha, to his credit, doesn’t say anything. When she looks up to try and gauge his reaction, she can see the curve of his ear lying flat under the bandana, and she reaches to jostle the knot before pulling it off. Now, he makes a shocked sound and looks down, trying to reach for it again. _Man … talk about liquid courage._ “Ah- Kagome! Give it back.” 

“Nuh uh,” she says, switching the bandana into her other hand to stick in her jean pocket. She then reaches up and rubs the base of it. “Sorry. For yelling.” 

“Whatever. Quit touchin’.” 

“‘kay.” Pulling her hand back, she grabs the bandana and sticks it in his waiting hand. “You can leave it off. I’m sure they hurt, being pressed down so much today.” 

“Nothin’ doin’.” He says softly. Instead of wrapping the cloth back around his head, he sticks it in his pocket. “My truck’s that one.” ‘That one’ was an old rickety thing, the kind of old that looked like he’d had it forever, but she could tell it had been well taken care of, too. He walks her to the passenger’s side door and pulls out his fob to push the unlock button, reaching to open it for her as she _also_ reaches for it, and when their hands brush, they both wear a matching blush on their faces that she could, at least, attribute to her buzz. “It, uh. It sticks, so.” Kagome pulls her hand back and stands to the side as he grabs the handle and pulls a bit harder than she thought it could handle, but it opens with a loud squeak. Climbing into it, she lets him close it behind her and she reaches for her seat belt. 

As he climbs in his own door and turns on the ignition - it takes a few tries to roll over, but it does start - he puts his arm on the back of her seat and looks over his shoulder to back up. She isn’t sure why, but her body instinctively wants to scoot a little closer so he can reach her shoulders. Thankfully, her brain wins out and reminds her that he wasn’t trying to put his arm around her. Sighing out as they got onto the road, she looked out the window. 

Kagome gives him directions to her apartment, but after that the ride is quiet. It isn’t terribly long either, so she’s glad they don’t start a new conversation. She could use this time to gather her thoughts, anyway. 

When they pull up to her apartment, he parks directly in front of her building and puts the truck in park. They sit there quietly for a few minutes, and Kagome sighs again. She wished their time didn’t have to end so abruptly after such an enjoyable night, but she did have errands to run tomorrow and wanted to get some sleep. Plus, she didn’t want to steal _all_ of his Friday night if he really _did_ have other plans. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she reaches for the handle to open the door and hops down from the seat. 

“I don’t want to get in the way if you really have a date tonight,” she explains at his surprised expression at her sudden movement. Then, his expression changes. “So, I’ll get outta your hair. Thanks again for tonight, and for paying for it.” 

“For the record,” he says, voice entirely too soft. Maybe, she might venture to say … shy? “There aren’t a lot of humans who date demons. And, of that small fraction, way less date _half_ demons. So, I didn’t have a date tonight. Just you.” 

_Just you_.

_Just you._

Kagome smiles at him, leans over the seat to look at him fully, then says just as softly, “If that’s true, then tonight definitely _was_ a date, and the next one _you’re_ picking. Deal?” 

Inuyasha blinks at her, then his lips quirk up in a small smile that looks more genuine than all the other grins she’d seen on him. “Yeah. Night, Kagome.” 

“Goodnight!” Closing the door and waving at him as she hops up onto the curb, she walks over to the two-story house and opens the storm door to the front door. She can hear his truck’s engine still running behind her, and as she looks for her keys her fingers fumble in her bag; usually, her dates drove away after she got out of their cars - not that she’d had many dates, of course, just a couple casual nights out like this - so she was a little surprised that, by the time she grabbed her keys and pushed them into the lock, she could hear the truck shift gears. As she steps into her apartment and turns around to wave a final time, he waves back, and only pulls away to drive in the other direction when she closes her door. 

_He’s … so different from that day_. 

Thinking back to what her mother told her - “ _...even though he was a demon, he was so gentle with you!_ ” - and recalling the shy look on his face earlier, Kagome finds herself thinking a little too hard, trying to call forth one of the many memories she had of her childhood where they used to play. He used to chase her around her backyard in nothing but a pair of swim trunks, the little inflatable pool Mom had set up long-forgotten as she squeals in glee at having stolen the tie for his hair, which had grown back fairly quickly. Even though he had ended up tackling her to the ground, he had ended up turning his body to the side to shield her from the impact of the hard ground. His face as he asked if she was okay had been so intense, eyes burning gold, and she can’t fight the flood of warmth to her cheeks. 

_Okay, so … maybe not_ _that_ _different_.

Her back fell against the back of the door, her hand clasping the neckline of her blouse, before pushing off of it and headed to her bedroom to grab pajamas. Needless to say, she falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. 

She doesn’t so much dream as her mind wanders to that melody from before, muffled like it was coming from somewhere far away. But for all it sounds like the song was coming from a distance, she can see fingers playing, strong hands and long fingers tipped with claws pushing against the ivory keys.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fallout from their not-a-date date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, everybody! i hope everyone's doing about as good as ya can. we'll skip the small talk - except for a very loud thank you for the comments and kudos and those that have bookmarked this sumbitch! y'all are the best - and get right into it. see you saturday for the sneak peek, and next week for ch14! enjoy~ >:D

If someone had told Kagome that the entire foundation of hers and Inuyasha’s partnership would change after one night out, she might have called them out for being a liar; over the last few weeks, they had become a little bit more than strangers, and she would have been willing to accept that that might be all she’d get. But as soon as she came clean about how she knew him, and they had - or, _she_ had - elected to deem the outing a date instead of just two friends catching up on old times, their friendship had almost completely changed. 

For one, his glares had been reduced to wary looks.

For two, when it was just them waiting for class to start, he took the bandana off. Hell, half the time it was _her_ reminding _him_ to put it back on before the kids came rushing in. 

And three…

“...you didn’t hear a single thing I just told you, did you, Kagome?” 

Shaking her head out of her thoughts, Kagome looked up at Koga, who was giving her a wounded look as he glanced over at her, and she at least has the wherewithal to curl into the chair’s back guiltily as she gives him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I’m just … lost in my own head, I guess. What were you saying?” 

Sighing to himself, he leans against the whiteboard, clean and ready to be used, then turns around and grabs the black marker, starting to jot down some important notes for the students to make in their planners - there was a test coming up soon, and a book review assignment due the following week - as he spoke again. As he wrote, Kagome opened her own planner to jot down the reminders, not that she’d have to carry out the assignments herself. “I was letting you know that there was going to be a meeting after school today.” It was Tuesday. “And the old woman wanted me to make sure you were still coming.” 

“Oh! Yeah, sure, no problem.” She makes a note of it in the planner. _Meeting, in the library, after school_. “I can’t believe it’s October already, can you?” 

Koga shakes his head. “No. Before we know it, it’ll be the holidays.” 

The holidays - Christmas. She _loved_ celebrating Christmas with her family, especially now that Grandpa lived with them and she had everyone so close. Mom wasn’t close to her parents after moving out of her hometown to here when she got married, and was less so when she didn’t move right back after Kagome’s dad died. It was for petty reasons on their part, and although it was purely for show, she and Sota still got gifts in the mail from them every Christmas. It was her first holiday moved out, and while she thought shortly about celebrating it by herself in her own way, the thought of not being bugged by her brother and helping mom in the kitchen by almost over-baking the cookies didn’t sit right with her. 

“Do you have any idea what the meeting’s about?” 

“Something with the budget, I think.” Tapping his chin thoughtfully with the end of the marker, he jots down something else on the board, dotting the last ‘i’ and crossing the last ‘t’. “I’m only going by what I heard from some other teachers, though. If you wanna know, you could always meet with Honda yourself.” 

Kagome nods. That was true.

“So. You and dog-breath.” 

“He has a name,” Kagome says simply, trying to keep her attitude in check. Seriously, had he even _said_ his name yet this year? “But, what about Inuyasha?” 

“I just didn’t think he was your type,” he tries to remain casual, but she could just _tell_ that he was jealous. She raises an eyebrow at him. “That is to say- I didn’t think you were seeing anyone.” 

Crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing him hotly - it wasn’t any of his business - she utters a sigh. “Koga, you don’t know what my type is. And besides,” she sits up straight, trying to put on her no-bullshit expression, doing her best to exude a power and haughtiness that she just didn’t have. “I’m _not_ seeing anyone. He and I just went out for drinks. And I’m the only one who drank, so it was more like hanging out with special guest ‘Inuyasha the designated driver’.” She wasn’t going to tell him that they were considering it a date, or that she hoped that they’d be going out again. Obviously he was sticking his nose somewhere it didn’t belong. 

“I see.” Koga’s voice isn’t exactly the most understanding, but she wasn’t expecting anything like that. “So, since you’re not seeing anyone, I was wondering if you would go out to dinner with me?” 

_Yeah right!_

“I appreciate you asking me out, but I--” 

“It’s just-!” he quickly interrupts her, which makes her stomach knot up anxiously. Desperation was coming off of him in waves. “There’s this restaurant that has this flat-top roof and a bunch of tables on top, and they have all these lights hung up and it’s really romantic-” the more he babbled, the more Kagome considered the offer partially out of curiosity. If she liked the place, maybe she and Inuyasha could- 

_Now is_ _hardly_ _the time to think about the next time it’s_ _your_ _turn to pick a place, Higurashi!_

Still. She didn’t feel anything for Koga that he apparently felt for her. 

_Maybe if we go on this one date, I can talk him down gently._

“...sure,” she says, trying to remain neutral. “One date, okay? We’ll see how it goes.”

The glee on his face didn’t quite meet the small smile on her face. He didn’t seem to notice, though, as he walked around her back to his desk. She stood before he could say anything else to her and headed out, hoping to find either Sango or Ms. Honda. 

* * *

“Okay, Kagome, spill it,” Sango catches her at lunch, having come up behind her and grabbed her hand. They were standing in the teacher’s room, Kagome’s hand having been poised to grab her lunch box in the refrigerator before it got snatched up by her friend. “You’ve been super nervous every time I’ve seen you in the hall today. What’s going on?” 

Kagome lets out the breath she’d been holding and levels Sango with a look of exhaustion. “I accepted a date with Koga.” 

“Oh,” is all Sango responds with. It looks like she’s waiting for Kagome to continue, and she gently takes her hand back only to tuck it into her hair and start pacing from the fridge and back a few steps. “Kagome?” 

“I don’t know _why_ I did, I’m not interested in him like that. But he keeps trying to act like he’s responsible for me, so I figured if I let him have _a date_ that I could let him down gently afterward.” Kagome was babbling, made up of nervous energy, and Sango let her get it out. It wouldn’t be long now until other teachers would filter into the teacher’s room, however, so she did her best to wrap it up. “And to make it worse, when Inuyasha and I went out on Friday just to hang out, we bumped into him and the two of them got in an _argument_ \--” 

“Whoa, slow down, Kagome,” Sango stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders gently, holding her at a comfortable closeness and giving her a concerned look that was almost maternal. That made sense - she _was_ a mother after all. Reminded of her own mother’s warm countenance, Kagome instantly stills and feels her lungs pull in a few good breaths as she starts to calm down. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to get guy trouble so early in the year, but it sounds to me like you need a girl’s night.” 

The prospect makes her perk up; they had been trying to make the plans to go out together for a bit, but either Sango couldn’t find a sitter or Miroku had to work. She had met the girls once at the park that one time a couple weeks ago, and they were little balls of energy, but as Sango had put it, “ _There’s nothing like adult company._ ” Kagome, for her part, was _dying_ for some sort of girl time. At this point, she’d have considered convincing Sango to play hooky with her. 

Luckily, it wouldn’t come to that after all. 

“We could go out Friday night?” Sango fishes, lips tilted up in a smile. “Miroku’s been bugging me to go out with you. He really likes you.” With a sneaky grin on her face, she says in a teasing tone, “He wants he and I and you and _someone_ to go on a double date.” 

Kagome eyes her skeptically, at first thinking she might mean Koga. But after she thinks about it, she feels her face grow warm and she covers her face with her hands. “M-Me and … Inuyasha?” 

“Miroku’s under the impression that he has to talk to him about dating you,” Sango shrugs her shoulders, and Kagome makes a loud, shocked gasp. She might have winced at the sound, but Sango ends up bursting into light laughter at her expression, and she sets her own hands on Kagome’s. “Don’t you worry about that. He’s just being a weirdo. Besides, they’re actually good friends.”

That stilted Kagome’s shock, though it didn’t exactly fan the blush away. “Wait … Miroku and Inuyasha are _friends?_ What weird luck is this?!” 

The two burst into giggles, and Sango wraps an arm around Kagome’s shoulders as soon as the latter grabs her lunch and closes the refrigerator. With a quiet mumble of “ _I eat in the music room_ ”, Sango starts walking her out of the room and down the hall toward Kagome’s destination. Conversation gets steered into much more neutral territory and Kagome is grateful as the heat on her face gradually seeps away. They finish planning out their Friday night, with Sango choosing what was more of a nightclub than a bar, though seemed nervous about it. Sensing her friend’s worry, Kagome winds her arm around her back with a bright smile.

By the time they get to the music room, Kagome’s feet immediately take her toward the thin hallway, but she ends up stopping. Sango doesn’t walk away, instead is staring down the hall in silent awe. It’s nothing compared to the surprised look on Kagome’s face, and she turns around to face Sango. 

The sound of a piano … more than that, of someone _playing_ the piano … reverberates down the hall and into the stairwell, where the song being played bounces off the walls and resonates deep in her chest. _He’s playing_ , Kagome thinks. _He’s actually playing again._ Taking another step forward, she looks back into the room, her hand blindly reaching behind her for Sango’s hand. “Sango … he’s playing. He told me he doesn’t like to play much anymore, but he’s _playing_.” 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Sango grabs her hand just long enough to squeeze her fingers in comfort before pushing her more toward the sound. “Go and listen already.” 

Kagome didn’t need to be told twice. Once her hand was free, she walked through the hallway, her eyes roaming over the room - set up neatly just like it always is, chairs facing a clean white board in three rows of five. In place of the dark duffel bag that had been in the corner the last couple of weeks, there was a bucket of what looked like colorful construction paper sitting on the floor beside the piano, as well as a smaller container of tape dispensers and staplers sitting on top of the piano. From where she was standing, she can see two triangular dog ears poking up, swiveling, and for a moment she can see his eyes dart up to look at her. 

_Please don’t stop playing._ Her feet don’t want to move, even as his gaze flicks back to the piano. Compared to last time, he doesn’t stop, instead his foot presses on one of the pedals below and the song gets a little quieter. That carries her further into the room, staring at him, until she is standing just to the side of him. He scoots over, lets her sit with him, and she does without a second thought. 

Neither of them acknowledge what’s happening. Kagome just keeps watching, and Inuyasha keeps playing. 

As the song comes to a gradual end, she can see the way his lower lip catches in one of his fangs, and he’s all nervous energy all of a sudden. She’s not sure why, but it’s difficult to look him in the eye, what with what happened earlier and her conversation with Sango. Instead, she feels his hand clutch hers, and ultimately that’s what gets her to look at him. 

“Inuyasha?” 

“Kagome … _I_ -” 

A voice comes over the intercom, making them both jump and Inuyasha let go of Kagome’s hand. His eyes glare at the speaker, a little growl in his throat. “ _Mr. Takahashi, you have a call waiting in the office. Mr. Takahashi to the office._ ” 

Uttering a sigh, he stands up, an annoyed expression on his face as he stomps around the piano and heads toward the hallway. “Kagome, if I’m not back, can you get the class started?”

“Sure, but-”

“Just have the little runts grab some paper and help ‘em cut out strips for chains,” he says as his back moves away from her. “I’ll be back soon as I can.” 

And then he was gone. 

Kagome can’t help but feel nerves rattling around in her stomach. _What was … he going to say? What’s on his mind?_

**_Kagome…_ **


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha answers an important call, and kagome meets a special person in inuyasha's life...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy wednesday, my dudes! how ya doin'? 
> 
> i have been sitting on this chapter for SO LONG. it's been KILLIN ME - writing it was so much gd fun because i really enjoy the carefree fun that the special person brings to the original series. hopefully, i did them justice! (feel free to tell me if i did or didn't! ...also i'm not interested in your ship drama so i better not get any fuckin comments about it, forreal)
> 
> next chapter comes out 11/18! look forward to ch15 sneak peek this weekend!
> 
> enjoy!

It had been a _long_ fucking time since he’d been at this place. 

Inuyasha doesn’t even take the time to find a proper guest parking spot before he practically jumps out of his truck and stomps up to the main entrance of the huge public school; it was a shock in itself that anyone bothered to give him a call in the first place, and more of one that they didn’t call his cell phone, which was specifically _for_ taking jobs so he didn’t have to use a landline. The most shocking thing of all though had been who the call had been _from_ , and why. 

“ _Little brother,_ ” Inuyasha’s older half-brother, Sesshomaru, had a deep monotone that gave little to nothing away of his feelings for, really, anything. But for many years, he had always known the full-demon to despise him for reasons he couldn’t control. That was whatever, he wasn’t going to waste time giving a second thought to someone who hated his guts. But that’s why the call from said person was so shocking. “ _You need to go get Rin._ ”

Rin was a little human girl who had gone to live with Sesshomaru after she was taken from awful people who didn't deserve her who called themselves her 'parents'. He had been her guardian for a couple of years now, and it was the closest thing to a family that his older brother would ever have, of that Inuyasha was certain. She went to the all-human public school in the heart of town, where everyone else went who couldn’t get accepted into Kaede Honda’s special demon and human school - or the children of the same kind of terrible people who forbade them from applying - and was, unfortunately, notorious for getting into scuffles with classmates often. 

She was a ball of fire, that Rin. Inuyasha liked her as the sort-of niece that she was to him, even if he didn’t get to see her too often. 

He knew the layout of the school well enough, from his own short time here. Mother hadn’t wanted to send him here at first, but he in his _infinite_ child wisdom had insisted attending since it wasn’t as expensive as getting a private teacher. Of course, then the bullying started, and the fights, and then Mother pulled him out before the December cold had settled in the air. The front office is somewhere he knew well, having spent so much time there himself. With a small smirk at the fate of things, he turns into the main office and barely has time to announce his arrival before a smaller body throws itself into his legs. 

“Inuyasha!” Rin’s voice is the second sweetest voice to reach his ears today. He tamps that thought down as soon as it comes though. “I didn’t know you were coming today!” 

“Sesshomaru said that the frog was getting maintenance on the car done,” ‘The Frog’ was Sesshomaru’s personal assistant, Jaken, and ‘the car’ meant Sesshomaru’s car, which Jaken carted the asshole around in. “So you’re stuck with me, kid.” 

She doesn’t seem too disappointed, and that makes him grin. It would never cease to amuse him that she liked him so much, more than her guardian and Inuyasha’s _actual_ blood did. Although she was too big to need or even want to be carried, he picked her up like a sack of potatoes and held her on his hip despite her meager attempts at getting free. Ruffling her hair, he looks at the secretary. “Do I gotta fill anything out? No police reports, right?” he says that to Rin, who giggles and shakes her head ‘no’. When the secretary tells him much the same to answer his previous question, he shrugs and heads out of the office with Rin hanging like dead weight at his hip. 

“Are you taking me home?” she asks, sorta shrinking into herself. 

“I can always shoot a text to Jaken and have him get ya at my work.” 

“Where do you work?” 

As Inuyasha sets her down, he knocks a fist into his right shoulder, pretending it was sore from carrying her. “At the other school on the other side of town. Maintenance _and_ music. Now out we go. We’ll make the frog go get your things later.” 

With matching amused grins on their faces, Rin and Inuyasha head out into the parking lot. Rin knew the truck that was disobeying all the parking rules was his, and he snorts when she tells him as much. Before he pulls away, he sends the aforementioned texts to Jaken and, after some deliberation, to Sesshomaru too, despite knowing that the punishment Jaken receives when Sesshomaru’s left out of the loop sometimes cheers up Rin. Figuring to be a halfway decent person today, he tosses his phone in the cupholder on his side and drives away from the school and toward … well, the other school.

All the while, Rin’s legs kick back and forth as she hums a little tune to herself. 

* * *

“Okay, so once we have the paper cut out, we’re gonna…” Kagome’s voice trails off, trying to remember if Inuyasha had told her to do anything else with them. Nothing comes to mind, and that annoys her a little. “Uh, we’re just gonna set them aside until Mr. Yasha comes back.” 

“Miss Higurashi?” one of the boys asks, “Where _did_ Mr. Yasha go?” 

Kagome taps her chin, trying to buy some time, but her brain doesn’t help her come up with anything. “Don’t know. He was called to the office and told me to get you all to make strips for chains. It's only been a little while, I’m sure he’ll be--”

“Yo, runts!” the sound of his voice calls out through the hallway before the sight of him enters the room, and the students all turn around. They cheer when he comes in, which makes Kagome deflate a little bit; was she really doing that poor of a job leading the class? Or did they like him more than her, perhaps? Doing her best attempt at sulking, she crosses her arms and eyes him cautiously as he steps more into the room … and a girl who looks to be about Sota’s age steps in behind him. “Hope you didn’t give Miss Higurashi any trouble.” 

The girl looks from Inuyasha, who now donned his usual pink bandana, over to her, and a big smile appears on her face. She looks to have gotten into a scuffle, a dusting of dirt caked on the side of her arm and on her chin, but she almost looks none the wiser about her condition. The children all start to whisper to themselves, and Kagome quickly scolds them for gossiping. 

“See? I told you he’d be back,” Kagome smiles as Inuyasha stops to stand beside her. The little girl stands off to the side, hands clasped behind her back. “So, uh- is everything alright?” 

“I’ll tell ya later.” She nods. “Hey, go sit at the desk, okay?” The girl nods and steps over to the desk, where she makes herself comfortable by leaning back in the chair and putting her feet on the tabletop. Inuyasha sputters softly and Kagome starts laughing. 

Class - proper, Inuyasha-led class - gets underway shortly after, and Kagome’s glad to be out of the spotlight for now. Inuyasha instructs the small children, in groups, to write numbers leading up to 20 on their strips and then teaches them how to fold them and connect them in a chain link. Kagome watches with interest. When he doesn’t give them an explanation as to why they’re doing this, she lets her eyes wander over the class and then over to Inuyasha’s desk before she tries to inconspicuously slip from beside Inuyasha over to the piano, where she pulls the bench over closer to the desk. “Hi,” she says, smiling at the girl.

“Hello,” the girl takes her feet off the top and scoots the chair she was sitting on closer to Kagome. “You’re Miss Higurashi, right?” 

“Uh huh! What's your name?” 

“Rin!” 

The two share bright smiles before Rin leaps out of the chair and pulls Kagome into a hug. Of course, the surprise at the movement gets to her first, but she hugs her back with one arm until Rin pulls back and sits back down again on the chair. “Well, Rin, are you a new student?” 

Rin shakes her head. “I go to the other school.” 

“Oh.” Kagome had gone to that school, too. It was notorious for outwardly shunning anyone who wasn't human, and those who _were_ human who liked demons. It plunged the world backwards when schools like this one pushed it forward. “So, how do you know Inu- uh, Mr. Takahashi?”

Rin smiles, kicking her legs back and forth. “Inuyasha’s my uncle. My guardianasked him to get me, ‘cause I got in a fight again.” 

Kagome’s eyes widened. “Oh- Rin! Why did you get in a fight?”

Rin opens her mouth to answer before Inuyasha comes over, his arms crossed over his chest as he eyes them both curiously. “Oh, great. Just what I didn’t need, my niece and my partner conspiring over here in the corner.”

The bubble of laughter that escapes Kagome is pulled from her entirely without her permission, and Rin laughs too. His expression only gets funnier, eyes narrowing like he’s witnessing a conspiracy against him but he’s loath to stop it. “The he--ck’s so funny?” 

“She’s your partner?” Rin asks before he can even _think_ to correct her. “Is she your girlfriend?” 

At least this time, when someone asks a question like that, all Kagome does is feel her face flush. She also had to pointedly _not_ look at Inuyasha, even if he’s making all kinds of shocked noises from above them. Rin’s laughter is heavily amused at the two of them. “Uncle Inu has a girlfriend, a girlfriend, a girlfriend!”

“Rin, I swear t- she’s not my- ugh, get over here, you brat!” 

He reaches for her, and she spins out of the chair, squealing in joy. Kagome watches Rin run, and their little game draws the attention of the rest of the class, who cheer for Rin as she dodges a purposely-missed swipe and side-steps away from his arms that try to close around her in a bear hug. “Run, Rin!” Kagome laughs out, which draws Inuyasha’s mock-ire. “Oh, no-” is all she has a chance to get out before he’s dashing for her. “Inuyasha, wait-” 

“Come ‘ere, woman!” She’s not as quick as Rin and manages to be caught by the back of her shirt. Of course, for fear of it tearing, she doesn’t pull, instead letting herself be captured. He doesn’t hold onto her for very long, just picks her up from behind and carries her over to where the other kids were sitting. “Okay, runts, you keep her over here. Rin, _get over here_!”

Kagome’s giggles don’t die out for another while yet, the children all holding onto her like they were her very own restraints. She doesn’t fight them, of course, especially because she wants to watch the scene in front of her. Inuyasha hasn’t acted like this before, not with any of the children, at least not yet. It was a unique sort of relationship she was watching unfold right now, and she couldn’t help but feel a warmth in her heart expand out into the open room. The children behind her all cheer for Rin despite not knowing who she is, and Inuyasha grunts out something, seemingly offended by their treachery, before finally he manages to grab Rin and put her over his shoulder, holding onto her tightly but not painfully so. 

“You two. Are gonna be the death of me.” He says this to Rin, then to Kagome, before panting a little too hard for it to be real. Rin’s body trembles with laughter, and Kagome has the audacity to be shocked by his statement, which makes him grumble under his breath. Then, he places Rin back by his desk and points a finger at her in warning, and she sits down with a carefree smile. Rounding back on Kagome and their class - his. His class, but, also hers, so… - he purses his lips as if to keep from laughing. “ _You_ already are on thin ice.” 

This time, Kagome giggles. Rolling his eyes and rubbing at his temples over their impromptu ‘play time’, he gets down to sit cross-legged in front of everyone before saying. “...what were we doing?” 

“You were checking on me and your girlfriend!” Rin pipes up. This time, Kagome can’t help but laugh at his flushed face. 

“ _Rin_!” 

* * *

“I didn’t know you had a niece,” Kagome, finally deciding to have her lunch now that she knew all was well, says on the piano bench sitting next to Inuyasha’s desk. “She’s a spunky one, huh?” 

“She’s somethin’ alright,” he grumbles around his own lunch. They had an entire class and recess to eat and prepare for the next music class, which was the older kids’ music class. Rin had gone off to use the bathroom and would be back soon, which gave the two adults a brief reprieve from her antics. Kagome, for her part, offers him a sympathetic smile at the exhaustion in his voice before taking a bite of her sandwich. “Sorry ‘bout that. She has … a lot of energy. And she doesn’t really use her mental filter when it comes to things she thinks is fun.” 

After Kagome swallows her bite, she leans her back against the desk and sighs. “No, that’s okay. That was really fun - I haven’t seen you act like that since we were little.” 

“The kid brings that out of everyone. Except my brother.” 

Kagome tenses up. “...you know, I didn’t know you had a brother, either. Even as kids, he never was mentioned. Is he older than you?” 

“Y-yeah.” Squirming in his chair, Inuyasha props his arm on the table and leans his cheek into his palm. He’s trying to act bored, but his nerves come off way stronger. “We’re half-brothers. Same father, different mother. And he’s a full demon, so we’ve always had a really…” 

“Strained relationship?” she finishes. 

“That’s a kind way to put it. Civil when we need to be, but otherwise we just don’t talk.” Shrugging, he takes a giant bite of his lunch, signaling he was done talking about it, and Kagome takes that for what it is. Still, a part of her hoped she’d be able to meet him. They settle in and eat their lunch quietly, Kagome finishing hers before he finishes his and just in time for Rin to come back. 

“Can I go play outside?” she asks Inuyasha. 

He takes an almost comically-long time chewing his mouthful before he swallows it. Opening his mouth to answer, he instead decides to take a gulp of water, and she puts her hands on her hips and gives him a pout that reminds Kagome very much of him. When he swallows his water and utters out a soothed “ _Aaaah_ ,” he eyes her curiously before nodding his head. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll come keep an eye on ya.”

“I’ll come too,” Kagome says. “No use in staying up here by myself.” 

Kagome ignores the big grin on Rin’s face as both she and Inuyasha stand at the same time. The rest of the students would be released for recess any moment, which meant she would be able to play with a wide variety of students. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any fighting, but if anyone was equipped to handle that should the problem arise, it was Inuyasha. They walked side by side, with Rin walking a few steps ahead of them, occasionally looking over her shoulder at them. Kagome shook her head fondly, and when Rin finally stopped checking on them every couple seconds, she wrapped her arm through Inuyasha’s. He bent his arm at the elbow and placed his hand in his pocket, letting her hold onto him but not drawing attention to it. 

All in all, everything was perfect for the rest of the day. Kagome met his secret niece, she got to see a new (to her) fun side of him she didn’t know existed, _and_ he told her a bit more about his life that she missed. Not a bad end to the day, even if she still had the meeting to get to yet. 

Unfortunately, the fun and games for Kagome and Inuyasha wouldn't last forever.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome and inuyasha go to the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, well, well. howdy folks! hope you're all doing okay!
> 
> this is where the main plot really starts a'rolling! yeah, 15 chapters in - refer to the tag 'slow burn' lmao - of course, i'm only planting plot seeds right now. feel free to drop me a comment (or message on tumblr!) if you have any guesses! you're all smart - i'm sure you'll figure it out. 
> 
> next update next week! look forward to the sneak peek this weekend!!

Kagome finds herself staring at the clock almost obsessively for the last ten minutes of their last class for the day, the older children currently starting to put away the guitars that they had been quietly learning for the last week or so. They were improving steadily, with some of the students even managing to write themselves a simple 2-chord song, drawing compliments from her partner as he walked around to check on their progress. The remaining time would be used to discuss the next parts of their lessons, which would be choosing a song from the ‘intermediate songs’ pile to play for their midterm exam. Of course, that was still a ways away, and there would be lessons to fill in the gaps, but he wanted them to have plenty of time to think about it. 

As they carefully placed their guitars in each of the black cases, Inuyasha walked over, his hands in his pockets as he leaned into her view and whistled to get her attention. “Yo, Earth to Planet Kagome. You still there?” 

“Huh?” Kagome’s flush isn’t entirely from embarrassment, but mostly. “Oh. Yeah, I’m good.” 

“Ain’t what it looks like.” 

Kagome pulls her gaze away from the clock - and, subsequently, Inuyasha - and looks down at her lap, wringing her fingers in her lap. “Well, Ko- Mr. _Takayama_ told me there was another teacher’s meeting today, and he said it had something to do with the budget or something, so I’m wondering why they need _me_ there then. That’s not my expertise, _this_ is … being a teacher’s assistant, helping with behaviors of both human and demon children…” her concern and worry were evident, and it earns her a skeptical look at least. 

“I wasn’t told anything about a meeting,” he says seriously. There’s no bitterness in his voice, just simple matter-of-fact. Kagome looks up and gives him a look of confusion, like _why_ , and he narrows his eyes in thought. “They’re not gonna pull the wool over our eyes. I’m comin’ with you. Anything they gotta say to you, they gotta say to me too.” 

Kagome nods her head. “That’s another thing I was worried about. And I haven’t seen Ms. Honda all day, so I wasn’t able to ask anything more concrete about it.” 

Grumbling a bit as he stands up straight, he looks back toward the students, who were beginning to lean their guitars up against the wall for him to put away at the end of the day. His shoulders slump. “Well, ya don’t gotta worry, Kagome. Whatever we gotta face, you won’t be doin’ it alone.” 

_Our_. _We_. That sure was a welcome change, though she wasn’t sure when it had started. Only that a pressing warmth spread in her chest when he said it.

Her answering smile brings a similar, more muted one to his own face. Reaching for her to ruffle her hair, she makes a noise of indignation and bats at his hand before they go to face the class to wrap up for the day. 

“Mr. Takahashi,” Shiori, who Kagome recognized and smiled a little wider at, piped up softly, “Are we going to be learning any other instruments?” 

The students all sit in their seats, facing the whiteboard, and Inuyasha sticks his hands in his pockets. “What did ya have in mind?” 

“Um…” her voice is so soft, so shy and sweet. Kagome wants to wrap her up in a hug. “Well, maybe piano? Or … or maybe singing?” Her face flushes slightly. “I didn’t see anything about a choir, but will we be able to do that?” 

“As a matter of fact,” Inuyasha pulls over the piano bench and straddles it, pulling his hands from his pockets and crossing them over his chest. Kagome watches the exchange with interest - she had noticed there wasn’t any sort of choir program, or even band, nothing that some of the more musical students could channel their creativity into. She knew that schools had things like that for children their ages … so, why not here? Inuyasha’s voice pulls her out of her head again. “I planned on doin’ somethin’ for the holidays, if more are interested. Don’t worry, I’ll be bringin’ this stuff up at the meeting today. If ya got any more requests, let me know.” 

That managed to pull some excited whispers from some of the other students. Satisfied that he’d been able to answer her question, he clicks his tongue and winks at Shiori, who ducks her head in embarrassment before standing up and turning toward the board to write something down. Another voice from behind him, this one male and mildly judgmental - in the way that most children his age might be - asks something else of him that makes his entire body grow rigid. 

“Can you even _sing_ , Mr. Takahashi?” 

Kagome, at first, is just as curious as her student, and she looks from the boy to Inuyasha, whose eyes are hard as they stare at the whiteboard’s face like he’s staring straight into the eyes of a foe, like he’s _trapped_ in a battle waged by the entire world against him, and there’s a brief exhaustion and pain on his face as he tries to come up with the right move that will cause him the least harm. At first, she moves to touch him, to bring him back from wherever his mind had gone, but there was no telling what it was he was thinking about. Then, at the last second, her fingers clasp the marker and take it out of his hand. 

His grip immediately loosens when she does, hand falling to his side like it was dead weight. 

“Okay, I have an idea. Musical hangman!” She draws on the board, all the while trying to wrack her brain for some kind of music term to make the students guess. One by one, she can hear the students’ tension easing, the air in the room getting easier to breathe, and she finally comes up with a word to use and starts drawing short lines. 

By the time the bell rings and the children start to filter out of the room, whatever trance Inuyasha had been put under was lifted. Kagome notices immediately the way his body reacts to coming back into himself, a slight sway to his step that he can’t quite hide before she grabs onto his arm. “Inuyasha!” 

Once righted, he shakes her off a little too roughly. With a hard sigh, like it drags all of his strength with it as he breathes, he gives the ground by her feet a rather stern look before turning away. “Come on. Let’s go.” 

_The meeting_.

Without giving it a second thought, Kagome starts after him.

* * *

“Mind tellin’ me why _Kagome_ got the invitation to the stupid teacher’s meeting and I, the _music teacher_ , didn’t?” 

It was hardly the way he should have greeted the Teachers of the Round Table - as her internal monologue had deemed it in an attempt to ease the tension within herself - especially when the ones in attendance were looking increasingly discontented by his being there. And what made matters worse was the _way_ he said her name, like he thought she was inferior to him, though a quick look from him as she stopped beside him and gave him a hot glare quickly assuaged the fluttering in her stomach. It looked almost like an apology. She took it as one, though intended to let him have it later. 

Ms. Honda, for her part, looked more tired than anything. “I had asked Mr. Takayama to find you.” For some reason, that was enough of an answer, since his eyes became sharp but knowing as they flicked over to the aforementioned Mr. Takayama, who looked to be examining his blunt nails. “In any case, you are here, are you not? So may we please get this meeting star--” 

“I don’t know what the _hell_ kinda problem you’ve got with me, wolf, but I swear t--”

“Oh, like you don’t know!” Koga fired back, the volume of his voice _just_ louder than his normal speaking voice. “As if I believe that a _stupid_ dog like you couldn’t figure out something as simple as this.” A growl from Inuyasha makes Kagome’s hackles rise. She’s about two seconds away from putting herself between them if only because she _knew_ neither would make a move if she did. “Or maybe I’ve given you too much credit, and you really _are_ dense as they say.” 

“If you wanna run that by me again, bastard, we can take this outsi--” 

“That is ENOUGH.” Ms. Honda’s voice sends out a wave of energy that rocks the two slightly. Kagome even moves with it, swaying on her feet and reaching out to grab Inuyasha’s arm in an effort to right her feet. “I don’t know what this is about, but if neither of you can behave, I will have no choice but to ask you to leave. We must be _amiable_ if we are to find a solution worthy of our faculty and our students.” She might only have one eye, but Kaede casts an intense look on both of them that makes them back down, though Inuyasha does so with his signature scoff over his shoulder. _Keh_. “Now, _please_ , take your seats, Mr. Takahashi and Ms. Higurashi.” 

Not sparing each other one more solitary glance, both Inuyasha and Koga sit down, with Kagome pulling up a spot between them. _Is this really the best place to be?_ Her thoughts echo sourly before she shakes them away. 

“As we do every fall, we will be discussing our first fundraiser to help cover our extra expenses we’ve accumulated over the last few years,” Ms. Honda started, garnering the attention of Kagome as well as a reluctant Inuyasha. “For the last couple years, we have held a Fall Festival on school grounds and sold crafts and baked goods for students and parents. Every year, we are able to hit our goal with help from sponsor donations. However, it is the understanding of myself and the Superintendent that we find perhaps another means of raising funds for our school.” 

Kagome bows her head in thought. 

A teacher she doesn’t recognize pipes up first. “That’s an easy one. Stop hiring people who are _under-qualified_ just because we’re in a pinch.”

Inuyasha’s body twitches at that, a brief look of quiet acceptance on his face before he hides his expression under his bangs. Kagome reaches out to him, grabbing onto his shoulder and gives a comforting squeeze. It’s only when another person pipes up with the same kind of argument made about _her_ that Inuyasha’s head whips up. 

That person was Mr. Nakamura. Of course. “The same could be said about that girl. Under-qualified, that is.” 

They speak at the exact same time, Koga and Inuyasha, and although she wants to be cross with them over their rude behavior before, she couldn’t just _lie_ and pretend her heart doesn’t swell now. 

“ _Don’t talk about her like that._ ” Koga. 

“ **Keep her out of this.** ” Inuyasha.

Was her vision starting to swim a little bit? Did the room suddenly fill up with water?

“If they were both under-qualified, I would not have hired them on.” Ms. Honda was clearly finished with the antics of her staff, her voice low. The air was crackling, like an electric current was shooting around the table. “Before a _bloodbath_ is made of my library, I shall ask but once more: be civil, or leave!” 

The first teacher, for their part, at least pretends to show remorse. Mr. Nakamura, on the other hand, does not. He simply stares at Kagome, which makes her shift in her seat in discomfort, wanting for all the world to drape herself in heavy, shapeless clothes and blankets to hide in. She can barely see movement to her right - Inuyasha - before she’s being hauled up by the hand. 

“I’ll do ya one better. _We’ll_ go, and get back to ya on fundraiser plans. Let’s go, Kagome.” 

“Uh, Inuyasha-! I- hold on a sec!” 

He doesn’t listen. Just starts tugging her out of the library, back in the direction of the music room, his hand clasped around hers. 

* * *

That night, a text from Inuyasha drew her attention away from the second instant ramen she’d made herself for dinner. Kagome reaches for her phone - and nearly drops it into the bowl of noodles and broth in her haste - and unlocks her phone to read it. 

‘ _I have a place._ ’

‘ _Saturday morning, 10am. Be ready so I can pick you up._ ’ 

For a minute, she stares at the texts that come back to back to each other. Then, she smiles, excited. 

' _I_ _t’s a date!_ ’ she types back, setting her phone down on the arm of the couch as she takes a bite of noodles with a loud slurp at the end; anticipation roils around her body, making her antsy as she wiggles on the couch enough to spill broth onto her sleeping leggings, and she hisses at the unwanted warmth seeping through the fabric.

It was as sobering as anything, at least for a short while. But even in bed that night, she can’t quite seem to lay still as her brain offers up a plethora of suggestions before she finally exhausts the last of her energy and falls into slumber.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome has a run-in with mr. nakamura; GIRLS NIGHT OUT; inuyasha decides it's time to take on one of his inner demons...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey! happy TUESDAY, everybody! i hope you all are doing well.
> 
> for those that didn't see on tumblr, y'all are getting this a WHOLE DAY EARLY because i'll be without internet for the next couple of days! so rather than updating a day late, i decided y'all deserved it a day early instead! woo!
> 
> the next update is coming out next wednesday, on time - 12/2!   
> keep your eyes peeled for the sneak peek of ch17 this weekend!
> 
> also: WE HAVE A COOL BANNER made by the LOVELY ruddcatha!! check tumblr to see it!

As she pushes her shopping cart through the supermarket, Kagome can’t help but feel a healthy dose of anticipation as the week comes to a quiet close; she had waited to do her grocery shopping Thursday after school, talking herself in and out of her favorite bottle of wine all week after the events of the first half of it. From Koga asking her to dinner and Inuyasha’s curious behavior, all the way to Mr. Nakamura’s incessant need to … well, be an asshole to not only her partner but to _her_ as well at the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, it had been something of a whirlwind that came to an abrupt crawl on Wednesday and today, Thursday. Nothing of note had happened on either day, just business as usual. 

Well, except for Kagome’s heart, which was kind of all over the place. 

Making a show of peeking at her grocery list, she utters a few things under her breath. There was no mistaking that she knew how she felt about almost all of her co-workers, but the one who made her feel _many_ things was Inuyasha. And, that wasn’t just a recent thing either, considering she’d felt nothing but frustration with him before, and the feeling didn’t really go away even now. But other things, other … _feelings_ … had decided to pig-pile on top of that - or, should she say, _dogpile_? - which only made the frustration double. 

He was so annoying. Yet, she couldn’t be more happy that their friendship had only improved since they started working together. 

One of the more surprising things she felt when it came to Inuyasha was the overwhelming need to protect him. She wasn’t physically strong, so it wasn’t like she could hurt anybody, but she had no problem jumping to his defense in meetings, or especially to Koga. The way it always seemed to shock him did something extra twisty to her gut, like he didn’t think anybody would do something like that. He certainly did his own protecting of _her_ , too, which she was incredibly grateful for. They had become a regular team, the yin to each other’s yang of late. 

As she turns herself into the closest aisle, stuffing the skinny paper list into her purse propped on the child seat, Kagome chews on her bottom lip as her thoughts shift to the outing they were going to have on Saturday morning. He hadn’t given her any new information on where they were going, but _had_ told her she didn’t have to dress up or anything. “ _Ain’t like I’m draggin’ ya to a fancy restaurant at 10am_ ,” he had said. When she tried needling him for more information, he only shoved her shoulder with his own and told her to ‘just be patient, Ka-go-me’. 

As she reaches for a box of spaghetti and puts it in the basket, she does her best impression of his scoff. “Keh! Fine, be that way, dog-boy.”

“You know,” a low rumble of a voice says in her ear, making a shiver of discomfort shoot up her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you were picking up on some bad habits.” 

Whirling around, and ultimately smacking her hip into her cart, Kagome stares wide eyed at Mr. Nakamura, who looks minutes away from salivating at the sight of her. Suddenly feeling self-conscious and exposed, Kagome crosses her arms under her chest in very much a ‘ _don’t get too close_ ’ gesture. “M-Mr. Nakamura! You scared me!” 

“Oh, please. No need to be so formal, Kagome,” the way he says her name is about 50 shades of wrong. “Call me Onigumo.” 

_As if!_ Still, she didn’t want to draw too much of his ire alone. His red eyes regard her thoughtfully, yet his lips curl in a smirk that makes her blood run cold. 

“R-Right.” _Instead, I’ll just come up with ways to not even say your name! Take_ _that_ _, creep!_ “So, you save all your grocery shopping for today, too?” She didn't _want_ to make small-talk with the guy, but she wasn't looking to cause herself any problems with him. Kagome just wanted to grab her last few things, _definitely_ that bottle of wine, and get the hell out of here.

“On the contrary, I just wanted to pick up a bottle of wine,” he brandishes the bottle, which she hadn’t noticed was tucked into his arm. “I’m surprised you don’t have your guard dog with you.” The way he says it makes a _fire_ lick at her very soul. Obviously he picks up on her shift in mood, and either it amuses him or he doesn’t seem to care. HIs head tilts slightly as her hackles rise, shoulders tense. “I would watch out for him if I were you. He’s not exactly the type of _creature_ a woman like you should be hanging around.”

“That does it,” her voice cracks in her attempt to keep her voice quiet and even, with the two of them in a public setting. “If you think for a single second that I’m going to let your obvious bias for Inuyasha sway my decisions on who I decide to be friends with, then you are _wrong_! You don’t know me, and obviously you _don’t_ know Inuyasha if you think that he’s any different than you or me. So don’t talk about him like that, ever again. Not to me, to him, or anyone else.” 

Although Onigumo seems surprised by her declaration, he only gives her that same dirty smirk that he gave her before. “See, that’s where you’re wrong.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

Onigumo’s eyes glint under the lights in an almost predatory way. Kagome has to fight not to shrink away. “You’re wrong, Kagome. I happen to know him _quite_ well. I knew him long before all three of us worked for Ms. Honda.” 

Kagome wasn’t one to pry, especially when it came to matters of the past. Still, she can’t help but feel like he’s venturing for her to ask. Her stomach twists into anxious knots. “It doesn't matter. If he wants me to know something like that, he'd tell me."

“Are you positive about that?” 

_Yes!_

...why wouldn’t her mouth form the word?

“If that is the case, then you are perhaps as foolish as him. He is lucky to have someone like Ms. Honda coming to vouch for his character, after what he did to her family.” Without another word, he steps around her, leaving her staring wide-eyed at the place where he’d been standing. “If you don’t trust my word, ask the half-breed yourself. If you’re so sure he’d tell you, ask him how he knows Ms. Honda.” 

His footsteps have an easy pace to them, unhurried. When she can no longer hear him, she feels her entire body give into the weight of his words as she collapses onto her knees. Giving her ribs a rub, she sighs out. 

_Don’t listen to him, woman,_ she can hear Inuyasha say in her head. When her conscience had suddenly acquired the same harsh tone as him, she didn’t know. Giving her head a good shake, she grabs onto the cart and lifts herself back up onto her feet, the cart moving a bit and making her stumble. _Jeez, what a klutz!_

The rest of her shopping is uneventful, though she would be the first to admit that she was a little shaken up. She didn’t have much more to get - and she was _definitely_ getting the wine _now_ \- and the sooner she got out of here, the better. 

The drive home is quiet, tense. By the time she gets there and carries all of her groceries inside, she puts the temperature sensitive items away before collapsing on the couch and burying her face into one of the pillows. Would it be too weird if she asked him to come over? They might have made a world of progress and had spent plenty of time with one another, but it was definitely weird for him to come over, right? Shaking her head, she decides against it, choosing instead to close her eyes and try to push what happened at the store from her mind. 

“ _If you don’t trust my word, ask the half-breed yourself._ ”

Her face scrunches up, fingers clutching tightly onto the smooth fabric of the pillow. 

* * *

“I’m so glad we didn’t wait another day to do this,” Kagome sighs in relief as she loops her arm with Sango’s, the latter walking them over to the sitting area near the bar. “After the week I’ve had, I’m pretty sure I’d have drank the entire bottle of wine I bought yesterday if we weren’t going out tonight.” 

Sango looks worriedly at her, letting her take a seat on the comfortable lush leather chair, sitting in the one right next to her. “I know about the Koga stuff. Did anything else happen?” 

Kagome sighs, propping her arm up on the arm of the chair and resting her chin in her hand. “You mean, aside from Koga and Inuyasha picking fights and Mr. Nakamura being an asshole?” 

“Jeez,” Sango sighs, reaching over to place her hand on Kagome’s knee, giving it a rub of comfort. “Has he started giving you a hard time?” 

“Started?” Kagome slanted a look over at her, exhaustion marring her face. “He hasn’t _stopped_ giving me a hard time. At first, he was being a jerk to Inuyasha, but then at the meeting he said he and I _both_ were underqualified!”

Sango’s expression changes from comforting to frustration. “What the hell? Has he given you any other problems?”

Kagome thought for a fraction of a second that she should tell Sango about what had happened the night before, but something stopped her. It might be something she should go right to Ms. Honda about. Or, maybe Inuyasha, since it directly involved his problems with him. In any case, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to drag people into whatever problems seem to be manifesting. Uttering a sigh, she picks her head up and starts looking around for a waiter that might be walking around. 

“Jeez, is anyone gonna take our order or what?” 

“Kagome…”

“I’m parched! I’ll go get us drinks, what do you want?” 

“Please don’t change the subject, this is important!” 

Kagome deflates at the sharp motherly tone; it wasn’t like she wanted to make her worry any more than she already was. And considering she didn’t have all the information herself yet, she didn’t want to make any assumptions without anything to back it up. Uttering a sigh, she props her cheek right back into her hand and eyes her very interesting lap like she was about to be on the receiving end of one of her mother’s talks, but when nothing comes, she chances a look back over at Sango. 

“He … was at the store yesterday, when I went shopping after school.” 

Sango doesn’t respond, letting Kagome work through it. However, her eyes get impossibly steely, like she’s anticipating the absolute worst thing, and Kagome quickly waves her hands in front of her. 

“Nothing happened! No, he snuck up behind me and we … talked? Well, he was being a jerk, but then…” 

“ _If_ _you’re so sure, ask him how he knows Ms. Honda._ ”

Sucking in a breath, Kagome pulls her legs to sit cross-legged on the chair. A waiter walks over and asks what the two want, and Sango makes her order before looking at Kagome. Pouting slightly, she orders herself a Sprite and a shot of vodka before almost forcing herself to look back at Sango again. After the waiter leaves, Sango pulls her chair closer to Kagome and leans in slightly to give them more privacy. “Kagome, what did he say to you?” 

“Just that … well, he and Inuyasha knew each other before we started working together, so he could speak to his true nature.” Having to repeat it makes her mind churn with about a thousand different questions, that she was sure if she asked she wouldn’t get any answers to. Instead, she tries to remain hopeful. “I ended up telling him off. And to top it off, tomorrow morning Inuyasha and I are going out. He hasn’t told me what we’re doing or where we’re going.” 

“What an odd coincidence, Koga asking you out tomorrow night and Inuyasha asking you in the morning,” Sango notes, and Kagome feels her face grow warm. “And I’ll bet you weren’t so hesitant to accept Inuyasha’s outing.” 

“Th-That’s different!” 

“Sure it is.” Sango smiles at her, this knowing look that makes her want to melt into the floor and disappear. “It’s okay if you like him, you know. I mean, it is your second date, right? Seems like a normal thing to like the people you hang out with.” 

“It’s not a date!”

“ _It’s a date!_ ”

Kagome’s face feels like it could rival a furnace, and she covers one of her cheeks with her palm, which was cooler in comparison. It was a brief relief, because Sango’s giving her a look not unlike one that her mother would give to her when she had a new school crush, and that makes the color on her cheeks deepen to a dark pink. “S-Sango, don’t look at me like that!” 

“Drinks, ladies?” The waiter returns with a round tray balanced on his left hand as his right hands out their drinks. As soon as the waiter turns away, Kagome tosses her shot into the Sprite and mixes it together before taking a big sip. Sango looks at her with an eyebrow quirked, then chuckles at her as she takes a sip of her own drink. 

For the next couple of hours, Sango and Kagome move from the topic of Kagome’s suffering to the general goings-on in their lives. Sango shares that Miroku was going away for a few days the following week to visit his uncle in the mountains, and Kagome muses how her brother and grandfather’s birthdays were coming up soon. Conversation stays on relatively even ground, neither bringing up one topic or the other that steered toward a direction that they - mainly Kagome - didn’t want to tackle right now. 

She had really needed tonight. A space to laugh and ignore the tensions going on, an excuse to let down her hair and shake herself of the crap that had dragged her down this week. Hopefully, tomorrow wouldn’t be as bad as she thought, nerves be damned. 

One could hope. 

* * *

Across town, Inuyasha paces the length of his apartment, his eyes pointedly ignoring the open calendar hanging in the hallway. He had been stupid, _so stupid_ to have let his guard down so much the last couple of weeks that he had forgotten just what tomorrow night was. Some part of him might have been conscious to it, considering he’d invited Kagome out in the morning rather than at night, but it hadn’t really stuck out to him until he’d been scrolling mindlessly through his phone and got the day-before reminder that tomorrow was the new moon - a moonless night. 

In other words, the night where he lost his demonic powers and turned human. 

It was his biggest secret, dwarfing the parts of his past that he dared to remember by a long shot. All half-demons had a night like this, as well as a bunch of other dirty secrets and heavy baggage that he didn’t really like to think about. On top of everything he was already dealing with, of _course_ his night of weakness had to butt in too, the bastard. 

On his walk back toward the front of his place, he slams both of his hands on the wall on either side of the hanging calendar and lets out a deep growl. It was a small relief that, this time, the new moon fell on a Saturday, but he wasn’t always granted such a small kindness. Tomorrow he would be tired, his senses not as sharp, and his filter wouldn’t be as quick to stop everything he kept under strict lock and key in his mind, but … well, everyone had to deal with their hard shit eventually, right?

Spinning away and walking toward the hall closet, he stands up on his toes and moves things around the top shelf until his hand falls upon a small box of things and he pulls it down. His handwriting glared up at him, almost begging him not to open it - he could remember the desperation as he penned ‘Don’t Open Ever’ in permanent marker - and he clutched it to his stomach. 

This sucked. No doubt it would feel worse Saturday morning. But, if anyone should be the first to know, it should be Kagome, right? After all, they needed a solution to their fundraising problem, and for all he knew, this could be an important first step to finding one. 

It just…

As he drops the box on the kitchen counter, he releases a long-suffering sigh. His clawed fingers scrape over the top of it, his expression hard. 

_You won’t haunt me anymore_ , his claws dig into the box’s face slightly before he pulls off the top of it. Inside is a large envelope, a blank CD with the number ‘3’ written on it, and an old ratty notebook. Tucked underneath these things, he finds an old picture of himself as a teenager and two other boys, holding a guitar and drum sticks respectively. He, meanwhile, was sitting at an electric keyboard and had a microphone near his mouth. His mother had taken the picture. Flipping it around, he feels his body sag against the counter as his eyes rove over his mother’s careful, neat handwriting.

‘ _Inuyasha, Bankotsu and Onigumo - Open Mic Night!_ ’

His fingers shake as he holds the picture in front of his face, the faces of people gone by staring up at him before he drops it back into the box. Inuyasha barely gives the rest of it a glance before he all but shoves the top of the box back on and stalks away, intent to try and get _some_ sleep at least.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha and kagome go out on saturday morning, and kagome finds out some things about her teaching partner...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i ... legitimately barely remember any of november. i remember election day, i remember stuff happening in fandoms i wasn't part of, and i remember thanksgiving ONLY BECAUSE it was approx. a week ago. what on earth, lmao. 
> 
> this chapter is ... _very important_ to both the plot and inuyasha and kagome's relationship going forward. not only that, but it's ... well, i guess i better let y'all get to it, right? c: pls enjoy!
> 
> **SOMETIME BETWEEN 12/1 AND 12/25 I'M GONNA BE POSTING A CHRISTMAS/HOLIDAY-THEMED SMUTTY THING** i made a post on tumblr, but here are the choices for this thing: tmim-themed, canon, or another au (which you are more than welcome to suggest a prompt, but this one might take longer to do!) i'm gonna stop taking prompt ideas on 12/11 and will simply choose between the first two options if i haven't posted before then. it's gonna be a time!
> 
> next update will be next week, 12/9! sneak peek will come out this weekend!
> 
> enjoy, y'all. c;

If she was being honest, Kagome was a little glad that Inuyasha didn’t seem to be the most punctual, as she finally steps into the large front room almost fifteen minutes after 10. The extra time had given her the opportunity to put effort into her look. She had just finished twisting her hair into one long braid when she saw his familiar beat-up truck pull up in front of her place, and had just managed to unplug her charging phone from the wall and shove it into her purse pocket before she heard three tentative rasps to her front door. 

Her outfit was rather simple, nothing too extravagant as she chose comfort over sex appeal: a simple black mid-length skirt and a low-cut green sweater with thin white stripes running vertically over the top. She’d slipped on a pair of comfortable but fashionable boots that just barely reach the middle of her shins. “Just a sec!” she calls out, and lets out an indignant huff when she hears the familiar - and secretly growing on her - scoff on the other end. 

“I gave you a few extra minutes and ya _still_ ain’t done?” 

“I’m just- ooh, you’re gonna get it, Inuyasha!” 

She swung the door open, prepared to fix him with a glare, but all the heat that would have been necessary to make the look believable completely gets sucked outside with the chill October breeze as she gapes at Inuyasha. He had on a buffalo-plaid flannel shirt that was fully unbuttoned, a clean white tank top underneath to accentuate rather than hide his broad chest. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, giving her a healthy view of his toned forearms and the thin silver hairs on his arms that she hadn’t noticed were there until now. He had on a pair of heavy work boots and a pair of jeans not unlike the jeans she always saw him in. His long hair hung loose down his back, his two thick forelocks dangling over his shoulders, and-- “Don’t you- I mean, you didn’t-” 

“Bring a bandana?” His lips lift in a little smile, though his eyes dart quickly toward the ground before she can comment on it. “I know. Didn’t want to wear it today.” 

Would it be weird if she hugged him right now? 

“Oh.” Is all she can get herself to say. When he starts to turn away, she quickly locks the door from the inside and double-checks that she has her key. Pulling the door closed, she swings around and joins him over by his truck, where he’d left the door open for her but was already in the process of walking to his side of the truck. Figuring ‘oh’ wasn’t exactly a suitable response, she climbs up onto the seat and closes the door just hard enough that it’s fully closed before whirling around to grace him with a cheeky grin. “So. Gonna tell me where we’re going?” 

Inuyasha climbs into the driver’s seat and closes his door before getting comfortable. “Buckle up.” 

Pouting, Kagome does. “You really aren’t going to tell me?” 

“So nosy!” he scoffs, then fixes her with a look of utter amusement. “It’s _killing_ you not knowin’, ain’t it?” 

Letting out a growl of frustration, she reaches up and gives his ear the lightest of flicks, just to the very tip of it. The hair there is soft, she recalled with an inner grin. “You’re such a _jerk_! I told _you_ where we were going!” 

“Yeah, well,” he reaches up to make a show of rubbing his triangular appendage, even if they both know she didn’t hurt it. “This one’s a little … well, it needs context I haven’t given ya yet. I’m … _gonna_ give it to you, Kagome.” After a couple beats where he _thinks_ she might understand that this was a serious type of situation, his face suddenly flushes bright and he looks over at her. “Th-The context! You’re gonna get the context, and nothin’ else!”

Kagome blinks at him, a little confused, before realizing where he thought she might have been confused. She bursts into laughter, then says, “Fine, Inuyasha. Whatever you say.” 

As he pulls away from her place and starts on the main road, Inuyasha’s almost white-knuckled on the steering wheel, attention solely on the road. She’s too busy admiring the look of the town right before the tidal wave of its townsfolk comes to disturb the stillness of morning to notice that every now and again, he peeks at her from the corner of his eye, but as she follows the flight path of some bird as it dashes from her side of the road to his, she manages to catch him as his eyes dart back to the road. “So. Uh, is everything okay?” 

Inuyasha nearly jumps out of his own skin, which was something she couldn’t say happened on the regular. Her face contorts to a worried seriousness, and as he stops at a red light, he chances a look at her only to see the look on her face. He scoffs at her. “Keh. ‘s fine. Just … really not looking forward to this.” A gasp makes him quickly whip his head toward her, her hurt expression making his eyes widen. “No, that’s not- fuck, that ain’t what I meant. Damn it.” Turning back to the road, he smacks a fist against the outside of the wheel in his own frustration. 

_I may be totally wrong_ , Kagome thinks, her expression softening as she watches him work through his inner-turmoil, dark eyebrows angled over his amber-gold eyes that are glaring out the window like he’s sending a death wish to his own reflection. The light turns green, and cars start to move ahead of him, prompting him to keep driving down the road. _But is he about to share some of his past with me?_

She might not have even reached that conclusion if Onigumo hadn’t … she feels a shiver course over her body and she wraps her arms around herself. He must notice that and reaches his hand out toward the dashboard console, flicking on the heat and turning it on ‘low’. The action makes her heart flutter, and she sits up in her seat slightly before leaning toward him a little bit. “Hey, Inuyasha?” 

“What?” at the harshness of his own voice, his shoulders tense up and his ears flatten in his hair. Kagome reaches over and touches the side of his arm, which makes him flinch but not push her away. 

“Are you really okay?” 

Inuyasha followed the road outside of town, driving onto a side road that turned to dirt, dust flying up as the tires touched it. His speed slows slightly to accommodate the change. Kagome knew, from growing up here, that this road led to farmland on one side and a huge dam on the other. It would eventually lead back onto the paved road, though she had never gone that way before. She wasn’t sure where it came out, but suddenly her interest was piqued. _What’s he up to?_

Finally, he answers her, the arm where her hand was resting falling from the wheel. His hand catches hers for a fraction of a second as he puts it down on the seat between them. “Not … it’s complicated. No, but also yeah.” Her nose wrinkles, confused and frustrated at his complicated answers, and he chances a look over at her and snorts. “I’m not tryin’ to be difficult. It’s just somethin’ that I don’t really talk about, but we’re faced with this problem and _my_ problem might be able to help us find a solution or somethin’. I just … _really_ don’t want…” He sighs, like he’s working through something in his head, before he stops at a stoplight. Looking back and forth, Kagome confirms that no one was coming from her direction, and he turns right. 

“If this is going to be too much for you today, we can always do something else,” she’s quick to offer. “There’s plenty we could do around town.” 

“Look, I get what you’re tryin’ to do. And … I appreciate it. But Kagome, if I gotta tell anyone about this, I’d prefer it be my choice, so just let me do this, okay?” he sounds defeated, but Kagome’s eyes widen slightly. Nodding her head with an added _Mm-hm_ , she watches him start to relax, his posture not looking so much like he was getting ready to jump out of his own truck. “It’s gonna take us a bit to get there.” 

“How long?” she asks, before she narrows her eyes a bit. “And _where_ is ‘there’?” 

“About an hour.” Working his jaw, Inuyasha licks his lips in preparation, the action having Kagome’s full attention as the world flies around them. He doesn’t give an answer as to the ‘where’, which draws a pout from her once more, but not for long. “As for ‘where’...” he reaches up to his visor and pulls down what looks like a piece of paper folded in half shortways. “Here.” 

Kagome gives him an odd look, but takes the offered paper and carefully unfolds it; it looked like it had been years since it had seen daylight, the white now slightly yellowed, the printed words starting to fade and smudge around the crease of the fold, but Kagome can make out several keywords:

‘PRINCE [...] WEST

Long-Awa[...] Return!

Tickets Limited!’

“Inuyasha…” 

“At first, I was just glad to not have people lookin’ at me like I was some kinda freak,” his voice is hard but nostalgic as he watches the expanse of road in front of them. “I already dealt with that shit since … you know,” he flicks his ears a couple times for emphasis and his face softens when she giggles. “And never _mind_ the fact that my old man just so _happened_ to be the greatest creative mind in the world of music for as far back as I can recall. I didn’t even want to be a musician like him or nothin’, I just … back then, I just wanted to be _accepted_.” His clawed fingers clutch at his chest, and Inuyasha sucks in a breath through clenched teeth. Kagome’s hand reaches out to rest on his shoulder. “It was all over when I picked up the microphone, and one of the boys I was hangin’ out with started playing his guitar, and it was a song I knew so I just … started _singing_.

“Before I could say ‘no’, I had a manager, who hired a promoter … and a band and a whole mess of people I didn’t really know.” As he says ‘promoter’, his breath trips over the word, and Kagome’s thumb rubs the ball of his shoulder in as comforting a movement as she can. Inuyasha pulls his right hand off the wheel, shaking off her hand for a second before he grabs her fingers. She mirrors the action on his knuckles, rubbing her thumb over them. Her heart is _pounding_ in her chest, echoing in her ears. “Mother didn’t want me to sign to any labels until I was done with school, so my manager pulled me out at the start of high school. She was so mad. I’d never heard her yell like that in my life.” His tone is affectionate as he mentions his mother, but then he turns serious. 

“They had me workin’ day and night on my first album, which didn’t do all that well, but I was proud of it. They made me go on tour to some of the big towns around the country, just to get me out there, which tumbled into a bigger tour, and I…” his words cut off, suddenly very aware of where the next part of his tale was headed, and his fingers twitched in hers. She can tell he wants to seek comfort from her. A soft noise escapes her lips, worried he might need to stop. “I never knew that … that my first big tour was gonna be the start of the _worst_ time of my life. I should have _listened_.” 

“Oh, Inuyasha,” her voice is a soft whimper. “If you need to stop...” 

He does, for a minute, stop talking long enough to clear his throat and pull in some deep breaths. His hand goes slack in hers, but he doesn’t pull away. Inuyasha’s eyes shine under the light of the sun shining over them. There was something about watching the way his face worked through the next parts of his life story that made Kagome take as soft a breath as she could, inhaling deeply when she … she _swears_ she sees a shine of something down his cheek. “Inuyasha…”

“My … last date of that first tour was local. Mother was gonna come, then take me home afterward, and I was gonna be able to sleep in my own bed for the first time in a long time. But … sh-she never got there.” 

“Oh no…” Her other hand shot for her mouth, eyes wide. “No, Inuyasha, please don’t tell me…” 

“My Mother was killed on her way to the concert. In a fuckin’ car accident. After that, everything’s a blur and I don’t really remember much except being _miserable_ because they wouldn’t let me get involved in _anything_ that wasn’t my music. Just … they just made me _work_. I wasn’t allowed to go home, though I think that’s ‘cause if I had I would have definitely never done a damn thing with music ever again. I just felt _nothing_.” 

His voice hangs heavily between them, the silence echoing every word he’d said in the last few seconds, almost becoming like a third person sitting in the truck with them. Kagome was doing her best not to cry, the weight of what he had said settling on her shoulders, making the corners of her eyes burn hot and making her vision swim. Beside her, she can hear shuddering breaths being taken, and suddenly her palm feels cold as he pulls his hand out of her grasp. 

_He’s been carrying this for so long … no wonder he has complicated feelings about music._ A single tear rolls down her face before she can fight it off, and she wipes it off quickly. _Oh, Inuyasha, I’m so sorry…_ she tries to will the apology out, but her lungs don’t want to supply sound. The fact that she can’t say it only makes her crumple more, which draws Inuyasha’s attention.

“C-Cut it out. If you make me start blubberin’, I’m gonna be pissed.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize. Ain’t your fault.” 

“Maybe not,” she sniffles, wiping at her face as another tear slips down. “But it isn’t yours, either.”

It’s not long before they pull into a large parking lot sitting below what looked like a tall stadium, large windows stretching from ground to ceiling and continuing on in much the same manner on each of the three stories. She can see people in the lobby of the place, talking amongst themselves, unaware of the state of the two of them as they find a place in the parking lot. Kagome thinks for a moment that they might be getting out, perhaps to see a show or concert, but Inuyasha makes no move to leave. Instead, he unbuckles and turns himself to face her, his eyes shining but gaze emanating determination. 

“I told you all that so I could share this with you,” he says. “I think I know how we can raise money for our class.” 

Kagome blinks, but the confidence in his voice and the unwavering look in his eyes makes her believe him. “Okay. What’s your plan?” 

Giving her a grin - complete with a singular fang poking out - Inuyasha holds his hands out in a gesture meant to communicate ‘here’s the lowdown’. “So. One of the biggest reasons kids like me sought out music was because it made us feel like we belonged somewhere. Music don’t discriminate.” Kagome nods in agreement and enthusiasm. “Music, or things like art and stuff- it brings people together. All kinds of people.” 

“That’s true,” Kagome says in understanding. “So maybe we should bring the two groups together to find a solution.”

He gives her an appraising look, which she doesn’t miss. “Woman, that’s exactly what I was thinkin’. A showcase or somethin’ - give the people that care about this sorta thing the chance to fight to keep it.”

She matches his grin. “I didn’t peg you as such a supportive hero type, Mr. _Nunuyasha_.” 

Narrowing his eyes at her as he reaches over to tickle her side - carefully, because he still has claws - she squeals and bats his hand away. As he continues to try to get to her, her feet come up to keep distance between them, trying to push him back with her boot. “N-No, get away!” Still, her pleas fall on deaf ears as he starts to crawl over, pinning her legs to the back of the seat with enough weight that she couldn’t easily pull them back, and she wiggles her legs for good measure. “Can’t you take a joke? Let me go, Inuyasha!” 

“Not a chance!” he says, a teasing glint in his bright eyes. “I let ‘em go and you’re gonna kick me or somethin’!” 

“Not ‘or something’. I _will_ kick you.” Not very hard, but she _would_!

“See?” When she tests her strength again and nearly knees him in the side he lets out a little growl and pins her legs more effectively to the seat with his hips, flexing his claws in front of him as if he intended to tear her to bits. Yet, as Kagome stares up at him, she is the furthest thing from afraid. Lifting her chin in defiance, she vaguely hears him chuckle at her, which makes her lift a curious eyebrow up at him. “Only _you_ would try to fight a demon who’s _obviously_ got you beat in the strength department.”

Kagome sticks her tongue out at him, writhing a bit at the hips. “You act like you want me to be afraid of you.” 

Inuyasha opens his mouth to say something but quickly shuts it again. Then, looking down at his clawed hand, he closes it into a fist before fixing her with a hard, serious look. “Ya _should_ be.”

“Well, I’m not.” _I get the feeling that … you wouldn’t hurt me, Inuyasha._

He gives her a weird look at that but doesn’t respond, instead shaking his head and sitting back down in his seat like he’d gained 20-pounds of weight. Her legs now unpinned, she pulls them to her, mindful of her skirt, and she watches his face go through about ten different emotions before coming to look at her again. “You’re … _really_ somethin’. I don’t get it.”

Her expression is light and teasing, but her smile is warm and knowing. “You’re not too bad yourself. So, about this date…”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha and kagome finish their morning not-a-date, and then have a run in with someone unwelcome...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy wednesday, everybody! hope your week so far is going alright, and if it's not, i hope this chapter can bring you a little bit of joy. if nothing else, i hope it's a decent distraction. 
> 
> so, tentative announcement: for those that don't follow my tumblr, i'm going to be posting a christmas/holiday-themed smutty one-shot set in the tmim!verse. this was born from, in the wrestling fandom, a group of us would participate in something called 'chrismuts', and with a great deal of us having moved on from writing wrestling and moving on to other fandoms, we decided not to do it this year. being used to writing something holiday-themed (almost) every year, i decided to go ahead and do something anyway! it'll go up sometime before 12/25, and if y'all go to my tumblr, i'll be keeping everyone updated on progress and stuff. so! there we go!
> 
> ch19 comes out next week, which means keep an eye out on saturday for the sneak peek!!
> 
> enjoy!

The rest of the morning and into the early afternoon is, in a word, comfortable. She wasn’t sure what it was, but being around Inuyasha - for as frustrating as he could be sometimes - was something she’d gotten incredibly used to and even came to like. The morning had continued into the stadium with him giving her a tour of the place and showing off more of a bit of his past that she had missed; there were hanging pictures of people who had performed here, including one of him, singing into a standing microphone and having the time of his life.

She wondered if he’d ever do it again. Perform … or, even sing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted to hear it. Someday, maybe he'd do it for her.

Eventually, she finds her arm linked in his, and neither of them seem to care as he continues to lead her around, showing off the brilliant stage and expansive rows of seats that stretch out in front of it. He idly recalls how he sometimes didn’t even see the audience because of the lights, and she holds onto that knowledge like he’d given her a gift. She asks if he ever got stage fright, and he gives her an odd look.

“No, never,” he had said to her. “I was more comfortable on stage than anywhere else.”

Eventually, having explored the building almost in full, he leads her back out and complains loudly about needing some food. She laughs lightly but agrees, and allows him to lead her to her door. Taking out his fob, he unlocks her door and reminds her “It sticks,” before reaching for the door handle, giving it some test jerks and pulls until he gets the door open. It smacks him in the stomach and she giggles to herself, drawing a heatless glare from him before she grabs the door and quickly closes it as she gets in.

When he gets in on his own side, he’s grumbling under his breath, but doesn’t otherwise comment as he starts the truck.

The drive back is filled with comfortable conversation, occasionally venturing back into the teasing territory they sometimes dipped into when they were alone; Kagome asked how Rin was and Inuyasha told her, though not without an air of attitude which made her smack the side of his arm. He asked how her family was, and she said that her brother was in middle school and Mom had retired from teaching. Nodding, he starts tapping his thumbs on the steering wheel, and she watches with rapt attention. Her thoughts shift to something else entirely, and before she can think twice, she opens her mouth.

“Hey … Inuyasha.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think--” _What are you doing? Don’t ask him now, you idiot!_ “...um…”

“Spit it out.” He didn’t sound annoyed with her, just … impatient. Breathing a sigh, she turns to him and watches his thumbs slow in their tapping.

“Do you think you would … sing again?”

His ears flicker at the sound of the question before flattening, despite him trying futilely to not react. His eyes slide over to her, and his fang pokes out as he bites on his lower lip before he looks back at the road. “I dunno. I haven’t since … then.”

“Right. I dunno, I just … you’ve played piano for me. Maybe not _for_ me, but-”

Even in her floundering, he doesn’t say anything. When she peeks over, his face is flushed, enough that she notices. For some reason, it fuels her to keep going. “-I was just thinking … do you think you’d perform? At the showcase?”

Eyes narrowed slightly, he sighs, more to himself than at her question. “I don’t know. I ain’t even sure if I can still.”

Not wanting to push him harder than she already had, Kagome nods her head and sighs, taking his answer for what it was; he hadn’t seemed annoyed or upset by the questions as he was pensive, testing the questions in the back of his brain and trying to figure out the best answer. Crossing one leg over the other, she plays with one of the creases of her skirt over her thigh, wondering what other hidden talents he had that she could possibly uncover. Oh, well - it wasn’t like she didn’t have all year to find out. Hopefully, he decided to stay on as the music teacher for a while, since he was naturally so good when it came to it. Maybe … that’s why he gave in.

Perhaps, he was actually happy to share such an important piece of himself with other people, with people who would enjoy it even half as much as he did. Maybe…

“Hey. Kagome.”

“Yes?”

“Did you … wanna go grab dinner?”

“Well, I thought lunch usually came before dinner?” Turning her head to give him an amused look, she sees the way he rolls his eyes and mutters a soft curse under his breath. _Wait_. “Inuyasha…”

“N-No, I meant … ugh, forget it.”

_Hold on … is … is he…?_

“No, wait,” Kagome says quickly, reaching out to touch his arm. He jumps slightly. “As in, like … an actual date? Not just hanging out, but candles and a nice restaurant and--” _and romance?_

“Y’know, you draggin’ it out to spare my feelings ain’t necessary.” He snaps slightly, then sighs. “Just forget it.”

“You don’t get to ask me out on a date only to take it back!” she glares hotly at him, crossing her arms in frustration. “Especially because I _wanted to_!”

It’s some weird kind of luck that they managed to make it to an intersection, because he brakes so fast he elicits some angry shouting and honking horns behind him as their bodies jerk with the movement of the truck. He turns to her, eyes a little wide, and both of his ears are perked up as he starts leaning toward her like she’s just told him possibly the greatest thing in the world. Kagome’s frustration practically evaporates at the look of surprise on his face, and she leans in slightly and gives him a smile.

“You … want to?”

“Well, duh.”

“...you want to.”

“Are you broken?” Reaching over, she knocks her hand on the top of his head. “Helloooo, earth to Inuyasha!”

If Inuyasha had been an actual dog, she imagined his tail would be wagging. The image makes her giggle to herself, which makes him curious, but she shakes her head. “I have plans tonight, but I’d really like to go out to dinner with you.”

“O-oh, uh. Yeah. I can’t do it tonight, either.” She doesn’t get the feeling he’s lying, necessarily, but there was definitely something shifty about that answer. “Since it’ll be your turn to pick, you choose the day.”

Kagome feels a laugh in her throat, but manages to swallow it in time. “Okay. I’ll get back to you on that.”

Another pointed honk from behind them gets their attention, and Inuyasha growls and looks like he’s about five seconds from bursting through his door and picking a fight before Kagome quickly unbuckles and leaps to sit in the middle. Her arms wrap around one of his, which gives him immediate pause, and he looks back at her with such a quick look that she can’t really gauge what it means before he situates himself in the seat and keeps driving, all the while his right arm was held securely in both of hers across her body.

And Kagome doesn’t miss the way his body relaxes, his arm weighted but not completely sagging. Leaning her cheek on his bicep - and giggling softly when he flexes in a lame attempt to dislodge her - she watches the day play around them like a movie, a giddy feeling in her stomach.

* * *

The giddiness goes away pretty readily when they get on her street and he starts to pull along the curb to let her out in front of her place … only to see a crisp black sports car waiting in that exact spot. Inuyasha’s eyes narrow slightly but he doesn’t say anything, seemingly knowing who the car belonged to without seeing their face. “Kagome, were you expecting anybody?”

“...no?” she says, confused. “I don’t even know anybody who drives a car like that.”

“Oh. I know who does.” Kagome watches as he unbuckles and practically throws his door open, and she has only half a second to gather herself and try to get her own door open as quickly before she hears yelling, seeing the person step out of the car, their black ponytail blowing with the slight breeze, pointed ears sticking out of the side of their head, and _oh no the car belonged to Koga_.

Damn it!

Finally managing to get the door open is no easy task, but she perseveres and pushes it back closed again before half-running over to the scene, which is getting more dire by the second; Koga and Inuyasha are in each other’s faces, one of them yelling about … one thing, and the other … oh, she couldn’t follow any of it! She had no idea what they were fighting about! This was getting ridiculous!

“Hey! Come on you two, let’s think rationally here-” she tries, but is immediately cut off by a growl beside her.

“Only one bein’ irrational here is this mangy wolf!” Inuyasha snaps, claws poised to strike, though Kagome’s not sure if he would actually attack him or not.

“Oh, that’s rich coming from _you_ , filthy mutt!” Koga retorts, a smirk playing across his lips that Kagome’s not sure if she fully likes the look of. It wasn’t creepy or anything, it didn’t make her uncomfortable, but expressions like that were hardly trustworthy no matter who was wearing it. “Here I was, waiting for Kagome, when you just come out here and start bitching about parking spots! And since when were you two an item, anyway?”

“Well, actually-”

“That’s hardly any’a your business!” Kagome sighs as Inuyasha yells some more, rubbing at her temples. Separately, she could handle them just fine, but together they were damn-near impossible! It takes all of her not to stomp her way into her apartment and let them duke it out, though she isn’t exactly in the mood to break both of them out of _jail_ , either, so she tries to quickly come up with a solution. _Think, Kagome_. Though, his waiting for her wasn't necessary, since they were going out later tonight. So, why was he...?

“Hold on, Koga, I-”

“Like hell it isn’t my business!” Koga yells back, completely ignoring Kagome, which makes her eyebrow twitch in frustration. “Kagome and I were going on a date tonight, you filthy dog! You lost, so _get_ lost!”

Inuyasha’s face conveys confusion, then hurt, and his eyes flick over to Kagome for a brief moment before he says, “Then why the hell are you here _now_! In case you haven’t noticed, it ain’t fuckin’ nighttime!”

Kagome looks at Inuyasha, trying to plead with him to hear her out - why did she feel like she had betrayed him, all of a sudden? - before turning to Koga; she wanted to know why he was here, too. They hadn’t talked about meeting up earlier, which was why she’d felt no need to rush her day with Inuyasha. Putting her hands on her hips, she looks expectantly at Koga, who puffs out his chest and gives off nothing but knowing confidence.

“Well, I figured I’d come get you early! We could go back to my place and hang out before dinner, but obviously I’m not the only one who needs to explain themselves!” He looks at Kagome pointedly, looking like all the world that he was the lover betrayed, and she gives him her best version of someone who didn't do anything wrong.

Because she _hadn't_!

Kagome throws her hands up in the air, groaning her frustration into the ether, before she gives them both an equally annoyed expression. “Okay, you two! This is getting ridiculous! Koga, I accepted your offer to go out _one time_. We are not together. I figured I’d say yes and I could get to know you better.” She didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t feel any romantic feelings for him, not like this. “So don’t try to push me into a corner I don’t need to be in!”

She had somewhat hoped that he would look even a little guilty for putting her in this spot, but he doesn’t. Instead, he looks at Inuyasha in challenge, but Inuyasha was being strangely quiet through this. She wants to look at him, to check if he was okay, that he was listening to her, but didn’t want to make things worse. Huffing, she crosses her arms and feels her face erupt in a blush as the blue of Koga's eyes flicks down for a second before flicking back up at her face.

The sound of fabric rustling beside her makes her look over, and before she knows it, Inuyasha’s draping his flannel shirt over her head, the length of it cascading over her, sleeves falling to the front and covering the cleavage she must have had showing. His eyes don’t even look at her, but as she gazes up at him in thanks, she can tell the fire and anger in his eyes isn’t aimed at her. The expression is certainly aimed at the wolf.

“Quit lookin’ at her like a piece of meat.”

Koga crosses his arms. “What, I can’t appreciate a sexy woman?”

That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say.

Before Kagome can even think to blush darker, Inuyasha had charged forward and punched him square in the face. Koga hadn’t been anticipating it, clearly thinking he had complimented her - she didn’t get called ‘sexy’ ever, so she wasn’t sure how she felt about it - and held the side of his face as he glared hotly at Inuyasha. Kagome slipped her arms into the flannel, closing it over her chest as much as she could, before she quickly jumped between them before anything else could happen.

“That’s enough!”

“Outta the way, Kagome, I gotta teach him a lesson!” Inuyasha sounded angry. But he didn’t try to get past her.

“No way,” she says, looking over her shoulder. He still wasn’t looking at her. Looking back at Koga she holds the shirt closed and does her best not to look pleased by the mark already being left on his face. It served him right for ogling her like that! “Koga, I think it’s best that we stay friends. I don’t think I can go out with you. Sorry.”

“You don’t think?” Blinking at her, looking surprised where she almost expected him to look like he’d just been rejected. “So, there’s still a chance.” Her shock at his hopeful expression is almost comical, and he leans forward to clasp her hands in both of his. “Don’t worry, Kagome, I’ll wait for you. I’ll happily pick up your pieces when mutt-face over here inevitably breaks your heart.” Turning to walk back to his car, she can feel Inuyasha push a bit on her back, like he wanted to get to him even more now, before he casts a wave to her. “Bye, Kagome!”

He drove away, leaving them by the curb in front of her apartment. Kagome releases the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in, and she turns around to look at Inuyasha, only to feel him step away from her. “Hey-” she starts, but sees him practically stomping back to his truck. Stumbling a bit as she spins her body around, she walks after him. “Inuyasha, wait- please don’t be mad-”

“I ain’t mad at you,” he says, his voice something of a growl. She’s not sure if she believes that.

“Yeah, right,” she presses. “I didn’t feel the need to tell you about tonight because nothing was gonna happen!”

“I already said I ain’t mad at you,” he looks at her as he gets his door open, no joking in his tone. “You don’t have to defend yourself. Yer’ not on the stand here - you can date anybody ya want to.”

“But we’re _not-_!”

Inuyasha slams the door a little too loudly, and Kagome can feel tears in her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. It wasn’t even a sad cry - she was pissed! The audacity of Koga, Inuyasha abandoning her on the curb - her mortification from having her _chest_ stared at, and the subsequent jump to avenge her … modesty, maybe? Shaking her head slightly, she gets out of the road and quickly opens the passenger door with a little more effort. “Inuyasha-”

The speed at which he scoots over and leans toward her is definitely not human, and she feels herself back up a little, leaning her face back; his eyes are smoldering, staring at her intensely, and she can’t help but sniffle at the sudden quiet stretching between them. His hand reaches up and carefully swipes a tear that had managed to slip down, and sighs hard through his nose. “I mean it. I ain’t mad at you. I’m pissed, and I don’t wanna take it out on you, so I’m gonna go. Don’t cry, Kagome.”

The extremely affectionate tone of his voice and his hand so close to her face makes more tears slip down, but she shakes her head. “Sorry. I’m okay. That was just a lot.”

He visibly softens, pulling his arm back to rest on the seat. “I know. If you still wanted to go out, just let me know when, okay?”

Kagome nods. He’s so close… her eyes flick down to his hand, then to his eyes, but her eyes linger on the pout on his lips for a little too long. _I kinda wanna…_

But she doesn’t. Instead, she leans in and wraps her arms around his neck, tucking her face next to his. She swears she hears him gasp, and she feels his hand gently rest on her side and pat a little awkwardly, before she pulls back from the hug and watches his surprised expression as she makes motion to close the door. Inuyasha starts to move back into his seat, lips pursed slightly as his eyes glaze over, like he’s got a million thoughts zooming in front of them before he softly grins at her and waves at her through the window. Taking a step back onto the curb, she waves back before turning toward the door, her fingers gripping the flannel over her shoulders like she was trying to wrap herself in it. The smile she feels on her face is almost involuntary but not unwelcome as she gets her door unlocked and closes it with an exhale.

Her heart was beating so fast. In a way it hadn't before, or unlike it had in a long time. 

That ... _that_ was interesting.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kagome comes to a realization, and kaede welcomes an unexpected guest...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there! happy wednesday/update day, my dudes! i hope you're all doin okay and staying safe. 
> 
> a couple of things to note before i release you: 1) the holiday thing is coming! it's been a little slow-going because turns out, i'm sick. (stay tuned into my tumblr over the next few days to find out more! lmao) 2) this is the last update of 2020! this'll give me plenty of time to focus on writing more of this bad boy AND my health. 
> 
> also, happy holidays! i hope you're all enjoy yourselves, and if you don't celebrate any, i hope this wintery season goes well for you and you all have a safe and healthy new year! (i'll still be on tumblr, i won't completely disappear, so come talk to me there if ya want to!)
> 
> alright, off ya go.

So, that was that.

Kagome had feelings for Inuyasha. 

When the hell _that_ had happened, she had no idea.

Stepping out from the bathroom after a long soak in her deep tub, Kagome adjusts her sleeping tank top and pajama pants, shuffling her bare feet across the carpeted floor of her apartment until she could fall dramatically over her sofa. She stretches her arms out like a contented cat; the sun had dipped below the horizon quite a while ago, leaving the outside world dark. The rest of her night would be pretty lowkey, considering she had cancelled plans with Koga, and would mostly consist of texting Sango at hyper-speed and at length about what happened today. 

Of course, her phone was on the coffee table, unassuming and just out of arms’ length. Pouting to herself, she looked around to find the TV remote and nearly groaned when she realized it was further away on the coffee table than her phone. That would mean she’d have to _move_ to get these things, and she honestly couldn’t be bothered to do that when she was feeling so relaxed. 

Turning on her side, she decides to stare at her TV screen instead, trying her best to will it to turn on without having to do it herself. When that didn’t work, she let out a sigh before she sat up … just in time for her phone to vibrate. 

Sango.

‘ **Let me know if you need me to excuse you from your date** ’

Oh. Right. 

‘ _The date never happened. I called it off._ ’

‘ **Is everything ok?** ’

Kagome smiles. She could almost _hear_ the worried tone of her voice. Before she could even start to assuage her friend's worries, Sango’s name filled her screen and the ringtone she had picked for her rang out, and she picked it up with a small laugh. “That was fast!”

“ _Well, I wanted to make sure you were okay faster than you could tell me._ ” Sango’s voice was comforting, and Kagome’s eyes softened as she followed the swirling pattern on her pajama pants distractedly. “ _So, what happened?_ ”

Kagome shared with her, omitting the details from the heart-to-heart in the car in the morning, the goings-on of her outing with Inuyasha right up until when they got back in the early afternoon. As she started to talk about the argument the two guys had, Sango scoffed and muttered something like “ _Fragile male egos_ ,” before getting eerily quiet when Kagome accidentally let it slip that Koga was still going to try to pursue her. They might not have been in the same room, but she could _definitely_ feel the temperature change in the air. Sango wasn’t too thrilled by that. “ _You tell me if he tries anything, Kagome._ ”

“Oh believe me - I’m pretty sure Inuyasha will have you covered there.” 

“ _How did_ _he_ _react when Koga said all that?_ ”

A faint blush appears on her face as she answers, “You mean after that _and_ Koga started checking me out? Go ahead and guess.” 

" _Oh god - are we down a teacher?_ ” 

Kagome laughs. “No, nothing like that. But if you see a bruise on Koga’s cheek on Monday, just know a certain _music teacher_ was defending my honor.” 

Sango hums thoughtfully on the other line. Kagome suddenly gets sheepish, wiggling her toes as she thinks of what else to say. Then, she remembers the best part. “Oh, and … he asked me out on a _real_ date.” 

“ _Inuyasha did?_ ”

Humming an affirmative, Kagome pulls her legs up so she could hug around her knees. “Yeah. He told me to pick a day, and I don’t know why but the thought makes me _super_ nervous, even though we’ve been hanging out for a while and went out a couple times before that.” 

“ _That’s great! ...not about you being nervous, but him asking you out for real!_ ” a whoop of excitement could be heard from somewhere else, near enough that Kagome could hear it but far enough that it sounded shouted, and Sango laughed into the phone. “ _Miroku’s excited for you, too._ ”

Kagome feels her face grow hot. “Yeah, here’s the real kicker - I have a closet full of casual clothes and one or two dresses that are better for a ‘cocktail with the girls’ situation, but I have like … _no_ date clothes. So, sometime in the next few days, I need to go shopping for some. Care to come with?” 

“ _Oh, you_ _bet_ _I’m coming! I’ve been meaning to get the girls some new clothes, too. They’re in desperate need of some warmer clothes._ ”

Kagome nods her head in understanding. “Sounds like a plan. So, how was _your_ Saturday?”

The two don’t gab for too much longer, since it was starting to get late and both women were starting to yawn into their phones. Eventually, Kagome gives in first, telling Sango that she’d talk to her soon, and the two hang up and get back to their respective evenings. For Kagome, that included being too lazy to _actually_ do anything. 

“I wonder if Inuyasha’s awake,” she thought aloud, pushing on the texting app and pulling up their messages. She didn’t have very many friends, she realized, but if anyone was still going to be awake and would actually respond, it would be him. _I know I just saw him earlier, but..._ Typing out a tentative hello message, she presses send and sets the phone on the arm of the couch as she gets herself comfortable.

His response is immediate.

‘ **Hey** ’

‘ _Are you still mad from earlier?_ ’ Kagome texts, trying not to acknowledge the pounding of her heart as she recalls his anger, and the _why_. Her eyes casually slide over to the flannel shirt she hadn’t given back and she feels the blush before she can think to stop it.

‘ **No. You ok ?** ’

‘ _Yeah_ ’, she texts back. ‘ _I still have your shirt_ ’

‘ **I know** ’ Kagome is glad he wasn’t here, because he would no doubt tease her for the color of her face. ‘ **Looks better on you anyway** ’

_Is he … flirting with me?!_ She thinks to herself, uttering a small sound of shocked embarrassment. Then, she texts him back. ‘ _It fits me way better, too. You have too much muscle_ ’

‘ **You been checkin me out, Kagome?** ’ 

“You jerk,” she laughs out loud, feeling her eyebrow twitch a bit. She can almost feel the laughter on his end of things, and she sticks her tongue out at the phone; not only is Kagome sure she hears him laughing - she hopes he is - but she can hear that weird way he used to say her name - ‘Ka-go-me’ - and she lets out a little growl as she stands up and walks over to the stove to turn on the burner under the teapot. Maybe a cup of tea would help ease her toward sleep, since she was becoming less and less tired. Stupid Inuyasha. Walking back toward the couch, she crosses her legs and sits curled up on the cushion. 

‘ _Yeah, as if-_ ’ backspace backspace backspace. ‘ _So what if I have-_ ’ backspace backspace backspace.

Damn it all. She didn’t know what to say! Sighing to herself, she punches back a resigned, ‘ _Maybe…_ ’ and waits for the teasing to commence. 

It doesn’t. 

Instead, he doesn’t respond. Not for a while, anyway, which makes her feel equal parts relieved and equal parts nervous as all hell; surely, he knew he was attractive, right? Or, at the very least, he knew he was fit, and he took care of his appearance enough to not look like a slob when he came to work or they went out. She couldn’t _possibly_ be the only one who checked him out … but then again, that very same thought makes a new, greener feeling coil in her chest. 

In the span of time it takes her to grab her tea and drink a good few mouthfuls to quicken her descent into slumber, a new text comes in, but she’s not sure she wants to read it yet. Reaching for her phone slowly and punching in her password, she presses onto their message thread and feels her eyes widen slightly. 

‘ **If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you liked me** ’

Ducking her head, she leaves him on read for a little while, hoping he’s squirming. Taking a couple more greedy sips and feeling it slowly slide down her throat, Kagome ignores the warmth on her face. If he wanted to flirt with her like this, she was going to flirt her little ass off! 

‘ _So what if I do?_ ’ 

This time, he doesn’t respond for a while, and she thinks she might have won. With a triumphant hum, she drinks the rest of her tea and walks it over to the sink, clapping her hands together at a job well done before going back over to grab her phone to charge at her bedside table. Of course, she gets halfway to her bed before she receives another text from Inuyasha.

‘ **Guess I’d have to say you’re not so bad yourself** ’

Although it feels like a weird reaction to have at a confession like that, Kagome smiles slightly, feeling warm all over as she more drapes herself onto the outer comforter with her phone in her hands. ‘ _Gee, that’s very kind of you_ ’ her phone falls on her sternum, one of her hands resting on her stomach as her eyes gaze up at her ceiling. Somehow, she can hear him laughing again, and she rolls over to let her phone fall onto the bed. Pushing the phone up so it was closer to her face, she feels her heart give one deep thud in her ribs before she squeezes her eyes shut. 

Despite her wanting to sound annoyed, when she hears her phone’s text tone, she quickly brings it to her face and opens it up. She can’t help but shake her head fondly, rolling her eyes, as she reads his response. 

‘ **Well, I can’t have you thinkin I’m a nice guy** ’

_Too late_ , she thinks wryly. Her response comes easier now, relieved to be back on a track that was much easier to navigate. ‘ _No, not at all. It’s better I think you’re a jerk_ ’ 

‘ **Yeah, well, it didn’t work anyway** ’

A soft expression looks back at her through her reflection. Of course it wasn’t going to work - she wasn’t the kind of person to abandon anybody, especially if they were someone she cared about. And, once she found out that Inuyasha was the boy she knew as a child, she almost _immediately_ swore to be his friend again. She had started to care for him before she meant to, and now--

‘ _No. It didn’t_ ’

Kagome chooses not to look at her phone the rest of the night, instead plugging it into the wall to charge and setting it on the bedside table. Her entire body was thrumming until she convinced herself to turn away from the phone. Once she gets comfortable, she dozes for a long time, swimming in the dark behind her eyelids before she falls into slumber. 

* * *

The plane ride had been horrendously … _boring_. 

Not that she had imagined it would be anything different; by the time she got off the plane and brought all her luggage to the front of the small airport, the sun had only started to kiss the horizon, painting the skies in pastels that chased away the dark blue and spackled stars. Thankfully, she had thought to call a cab ahead of time which, as she looked down at the small wristwatch, would be there to pick her up shortly. 

It was a surprise, her coming here, back to the town where she and her sister had gone to school. Of course, that had been some time ago, and she’d been able to distance herself from this place for a while, but something deep in her very soul was almost … calling her back. Could it be something so complex as that? Perhaps, was it like answering a calling, or did something else bring her here? 

It made no difference - she was here, and nothing was going to stop her from paying a visit to her dear sister and perhaps checking in on that brilliant school that her sister loved so dearly. 

_Ah well_ , she thought, brushing her dark hair off of her shoulder and pulling her jacket closer around her slender body. Just in time, a yellow cab pulled just to the side of her and she wheeled her suitcases over to the cab and held up a hand to get his attention. Within minutes, she had gotten her things into the large trunk and had climbed into the back seat, giving the taxi driver the address of her older sister and staring out the window at the light touching the world, grass gleaming and the windows touched faintly with frost. 

When her sister’s house comes into view, a smile breaks upon her lips, the only sign of her anticipation on her calm face. It had been almost an entire decade since she had seen or talked to her face to face, but according to the occasional check-in, things were going really well this year. Of course, the main reason she had come was to look into the arrangements for the new music teacher, considering the old codger of a man from years’ past had retired just last spring. According to Kaede, the new teacher was a little … well, not her first choice, but had certainly made himself comfortable. His assistant was new this year too, and Kaede had sung her praises as well.

When they got to Kaede’s house in a rather small suburb, she thanked the cab and tipped graciously after he helped bring her luggage to the small porch. With a knock, she prepared her expression, trying to cool her excitement. As soon as the rickety voice of her elder sister calls out to her, unsuspecting, her schooled calmness slips and the smile returns doubly. The door swings open.

Kaede’s wide-eyed expression was almost as priceless as the shocked way her name slips from her lips. 

“Kikyo!”

“I’ve returned for a visit,” she announces, as the older woman moves to the side to let her come into the warmth of her front sitting room. “And I wondered if you might put me up while I’m here.” 

“Of course, but-”

“Besides,” she drops off her luggage to the side of a simple fabric couch, running her fingers over the top of it. “You are the one who told me of the peculiar happenings of the new teachers. I merely am curious about them and thought I might visit.”

Kaede nods, though her expression seems a bit … shaken up, perhaps. Figuring she could discover why in the coming days, she wonders, “Your guest room is still down this hall, is it not?”

“Yes, sister Kikyo, but I _must_ -”

“Wonderful, I’ll bring my bags there and come back. Isn’t this great, Kaede?”

As she turns down the hall, she swears she hears her older sister say something to herself, but she shakes it off as an agreement.

“ _This is most concerning…_ ”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a new student is enrolled at the school; inuyasha's past rears it's head, and he reacts accordingly...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, everybody! i hope everyone had a safe, sane and fun holiday/new year! as promised, i have a new update for you today! and hoo boy, it's a doozy.
> 
> one thing before i toss you into this world: updates will be slower now. i wasn't able to write a whole bunch over my break, despite my want to do so. ended up getting 'rona (very mild, none of the usual scary symptoms - just a mild cold and major inconvenience, lmao) and having plenty of bouts of icky mind and emotional stuff through the whole ordeal. i'm sure it didn't seem so on tumblr, which you can always follow me on and come chat. (hint: especially about tmim, which i am always 100% down to talk about at all hours of the day.)  
> but uh, updates. i'm aiming for every other week. you'll definitely be kept in the loop, but for now, that's how it's looking! so, on that note: the next update will be in TWO WEEKS, so january 20. mark your calendars! (if that's a thing you wanna do.)
> 
> without further ado: i'm sorry.

“We’re getting a new student today?” Kagome’s head tilts slightly, gazing at Ms. Honda where she stands hand outstretched toward a folder, no doubt the student’s paperwork that had been delivered that morning. Kagome reaches to help just in time for the folder to be snatched from its place. Lowering her hand and clasping it in her other in front of her, she tries to see the name written on the side of it before squeaking in surprise as Ms. Honda turned to her. Her face heats in embarrassment.

“Aye, child,” she folds the folder against her chest, walking with purpose toward the secretary’s desk in the front office and handing it across for her to see to putting it away. Nodding their head in acknowledgement, Ms. Honda leads Kagome out of the front office, pulling her jacket over her smaller frame. Kagome snuggles into the plaid flannel shirt wrapped around her own torso, trying not to make a huge show of burying her face into the collar where it still smells of a mix of her light detergent and Inuyasha’s slight woody scent.

The heat becomes attributed to something else altogether. If Ms. Honda notices, she doesn’t comment. 

“You’re … not going to tell me, are y--”

“Miss Higurashi!”

“I know that voice…” Kagome perks up, looking back and forth down the hall before turning around, and she can’t help the wide smile that appears on her face as none other than _Rin_ bounds down the hall. Her arms wrap around her middle and Kagome wraps her arms around her too, laughing to herself in surprise. “Rin! You’re the new student, right?” 

“Uh huh! Wait ‘til Inuyasha sees, he’s gonna yell again!” 

Both erupted into giggles and Kagome reached out a hand for the girl to high five. The hallway echoes with the excited clap of their hands and Ms. Honda raises an eyebrow at them. It takes some convincing for Kagome to get Rin to go play outside until the school bell rings, but when she does finally go, she’s left laughing slightly to herself. The girl was just too much, but she _did_ adore her. 

The morning goes on; Koga makes it a point not to even so much as glance at her once class starts, though he doesn’t outwardly glare or scowl or the like. If anything, it looks like he’s pretending it didn’t even happen, and Kagome can’t decide if that’s better or worse. There’s a slight coloration of a bruise on his left cheek, which she can’t help but snort at, though it’s mostly faded to a faint yellow. None of the students seem to notice, though she sees Shippo look an awful long time up at his face. He doesn’t say anything, though. 

When it’s the kids’ snack time, Kagome stays at the back table, checking over her weekly planner and trying to figure out when a good day would be to go shopping, and then a night to go out with Inuyasha respectively. It looked like a lot of her afternoons this week were free, but she would talk to Inuyasha later about that. Also, she wanted to talk to him about setting up a private meeting with Ms. Honda so they could discuss their plan. 

The showcase - it was a great idea. The more she thought about it, the more everything Inuyasha had said made sense. She remembered music and art being her favorite classes when she was little, and it had ended up being where she met and bonded with most of her friends. In a climate such as this one, where Ms. Honda wanted to put humans and demons on the same level and breach the gap between them starting at such a young, impressionable age, she could understand where something that allowed the kids to create together was so important. She backed him completely and was excited to get started. 

It was as she was looking through her planner to finish putting in other important dates and reminders through November, December and January that she saw a shadow block out the light above her, and she gasps and turns around, only to see Koga standing behind her. 

“Ko--Mr. Takayama, good morning!” 

“Miss Higurashi,” he greeted, and Kagome forced a little too-wide smile at him. 

For what feels like hours of awkward silence - but what couldn’t have been more than a few seconds - he stands there, looking at her, before his eyes flick down to the flannel shirt; she was more wearing it as an outer layer, a simple black tee shirt on underneath, but she couldn’t help but shrink a little bit under his intense gaze. 

“So, you and him, huh?” It sounded a little accusatory, and she sits a little straighter, ready to chew him out for his tone. “Congratulations.” 

“It’s not like that,” she says carefully. “Not right now, anyway.” She wanted to apologize for … _something_ , but it wasn’t like she had done anything that she could remember. Still, her mouth flaps open and closed for a while before she snaps it shut, opting instead for a soft look. “But I would still like to hang out with you. Not in any romantic setting. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” he rubs behind his neck. “I know I came on a bit strong. Damn instincts.”

Kagome narrows her eyes, pointing at him. “Don’t swear! The kids are _right there_.”

Putting his whole body into a sigh, Koga deflates before setting a hand on his hip. “Yeah yeah, sorry sorry.” 

Snorting in an unladylike manner of amusement, she shakes her head, leaning her cheek in her palm as she gives him a slight roll of her eyes. “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Do you _really_ want me to answer that?” his answering smirk and quirk of his eyebrow makes her suck in a loud gasp, and the flush on her face can mostly be attributed to the frustrated look on her face at his perverted comment. When the students look over at the commotion, she buries her face in her planner, pretending to be hyper-focused on what she was doing. The laugh that Koga gives her is way too amused for her liking, and as he starts to turn away to go to his desk, she folds the planner up and smacks him in the hip with it. His laughter only gets a little louder, and by the slight slam of her open planner out in front of her, she can attest to not finding it very funny.

* * *

A low whistle sounds from behind her as she walks through the hall, on her way to the office to see if she could find Ms. Honda to request an audience. Somehow, she can tell who the whistle belonged to, though she stops and puts her hands on her hips as she turns around to regard Inuyasha with a raised eyebrow; he was wearing his red coveralls, though it was unzipped to his waist and the sleeves were tied around his hips to show off his simple tee shirt. His hair was in a ponytail, his signature bandana covering his ears, and his bright eyes were roving over her … particularly, over his red flannel.

“I guess I’m not gettin’ that back,” he jokes, one of his clawed hands reaching out to fix the collar so it folded neatly near her neck. She pretends she doesn’t notice the shiver that rolls over her shoulders. 

“I certainly hadn’t planned on giving it up,” she jokes, watching his hand pull back. “It’s _way_ too warm.” 

Inuyasha reaches over to rub the top of her head. It _would_ have been nice and affectionate, if he hadn’t mussed up her bangs in the process, to which she mildly objects with an indignant huff. “Eh, fine. I got more anyway. Though yer’ lucky, ‘cause that was my favorite.” 

“Well, now it’s _my_ favorite.” After sticking her tongue out at him, she tilts her head slightly, her posture slackening slightly, relaxed. “So, what are you up to?” 

“Was about to ask you that,” he counters. “I was gonna go get changed outta this and get ready for class. I … uh, figured I’d show the older kids a video today.” 

“What kind of video?” 

Inuyasha shifts from foot to foot, looking to the side and chewing on his lip. Kagome gives him a concerned look and reaches for his hand. Her fingers link with his, which pulls his face back to her, and once he sees the worry on her face, the awkwardness seeps out of his posture. “I … figured I’d-” he squeezes her hand back, careful not to dig his claws into her skin, “-show one of the recordings from that tour I was tellin’ you about before. We recorded part of it ‘cause my manager was gonna put it on a DVD to sell.”

“Oh…” her eyes widened a fraction, gazing at him in slight awe; she didn’t expect him to want to share something like that so soon, but she couldn’t help but feel a slight swell in her chest that he was opening up about something so personal. She was proud of him. “You sure you’re gonna be okay with doing that?” 

He shrugs. “It wasn’t so bad tellin’ you. This time, I don’t gotta talk about the gritty details so much, which was the hard part.” Nodding, she pulls his hand so he’s walking with her. He doesn’t pull his hand away. “Besides, they’re the ones who were so curious if I could sing or not. I don’t … mind sharin’ this with them, so quit lookin’ at me like that, Ka-go-me.” 

“Ah, I was wondering when that’d come back,” she shakes her head. “Well, I’m on my way to find Ms. Honda to see if she can find some time to meet to talk about our plan. I couldn’t stop thinking about it since Saturday and even started thinking about putting up a table near the cafeteria with sign-up sheets and stuff.” 

His expression brightens at her enthusiasm. “That all sounds like a good idea. I figured, if Honda’s into the idea, we could use that stage I took ya to. I know the place really well, and we can even rent some sorta bus to transport the kids there or somethin’.” 

“Another good idea,” she compliments, laughing slightly as his chest puffs out. “If we can get this all planned out now instead of later, we’ll have more time to get all the rest taken care of and the kids will have plenty of time to think about what they want to do.” 

“Guess I’m not the only one with good ideas,” he nudges her shoulder with his arm. The same arm which had the hand that was holding hers. That arm raises slightly to rest on her shoulder, their hands dangling, fingers just clasping each other and she vaguely feels the pressure of his arm on the side of her neck. Pursing her lips, she focuses on the hallway stretched before her. “I can come with ya. I got nothin’ else to do.” 

They walk like that, together, for a few more steps before Kagome just can’t help herself. “You know, there's a new student starting today.” 

“There is?” his head tilts slightly toward her, and she can see his ears twitch under the bandana as she looks up to give him a grin similar to his own. If he weren’t currently holding her hand, she’d have reached up to rub at it, but alas. Now that she thought about it, that’s probably why he was even holding her hand, the jerk! “And I’m guessing since you even thought to bring it up, ya met ‘em already?” 

“Oh yeah. I think you’ll enjoy her, too. She’s so sweet!” 

Inuyasha quirks an eyebrow at her. “What kinda sweet we talkin’ about?” 

“You’ll see,” she sing-songs. 

She can just see him narrow his eyes at her, which makes laughter escape her, echoing through the hallway despite her attempt not to be too loud. Inuyasha grumbles slightly under his breath but doesn’t comment further, instead scrunching up his mouth in something similar to a scowl, though it falters slightly when he sees her smiling from the corner of his eye.

When they finally made it to the main office, Ms. Honda is nowhere to be found. A little dejected, Kagome asked the secretary if she could leave a message for her for when she returned, and the secretary nodded, passing over a piece of scrap paper and a pen. Taking her hand back briefly, she scribbles down her name and asks her to meet them in the music room later and passes the note and pen across and thanks the secretary, who nods at their retreating backs before going back to work. 

There was still some time before lunch was set to end, but Kagome was in no rush to head to the music room at the moment. She was enjoying the company, and better yet, despite his saying so, he wasn’t in any rush to leave her side either. Their hands hadn’t joined again after they left the office, but they were standing close to each other, Inuyasha’s hands in his pockets casually as her own swung at her sides.

* * *

The reunion of Inuyasha and Rin went about as well as she suspected.

In other words, it was absolutely _hysterical_. 

There were some choice words Inuyasha muttered under his breath, something about ‘that damned brother’ this and ‘old dog new tricks’ that, but she had barely paid attention to it as Rin bound over and gave her another hug before slotting herself comfortably between Shiori and a young boy named Hakudoshi. Rin and Shiori were instant friends, sticking close to each other as Kagome set up the computer to play the video and Inuyasha pulled down the paper screen which the projector he’d borrowed from the library would, well … project the video on. 

Once everything was ready, Inuyasha nodded to her and walked back toward the computer as she jumped up and dashed for the lights. When the room was sapped of it’s light, the kids all gasp and make little noises of excitement, and as Kagome walks back toward Inuyasha to take up a seat next to him, she shushes the students with a slight smile, a little excited herself to see what was about to happen. 

The picture of an open field stretched in front of a makeshift stage, lights and speakers sharing the expansive space facing out, and the field _filled_ with multicolored dots of people. The crowd roared in excitement, dull but present, and there were maybe ten stage technicians walking back and forth across the stage, setting up equipment, testing lights and mics. Kagome’s eyes scan for someone, but she doesn’t see them. 

From beside her, she can feel Inuyasha move his seat to face the screen, but she can hear rather than feel his leg bouncing on the floor next to her, his knee occasionally popping in protest, and her hand finds his kneecap and gives it a firm squeeze across the cap of it. Pulling her eyes away from the screen, she finds his intense eyes staring at the screen, lips pressed in a line. Using her hand to knock his knee with his other to grab his attention, she continues watching. 

When his eyes finally pull to hers, his face seems infinitely paler. “We can stop if you want.” 

“No. ‘s fine.”

_Yeah right_ , she pulls her hand away and leans her elbow on the back of his chair, trying to nonchalantly place her hand on the top of his head. Her fingers find the curve of his ears easily and she gives a testing rub, and she hears him exhale before shifting so she can more easily reach. Crossing his arms across his flat stomach, she calmly traces the base of his ear, occasionally hearing him sigh. Sufficiently calmed down, she lets her fingers slow in their attentions and instead runs the backs of her fingers down the side of his face and into the hard muscle of his left shoulder. 

By the time a band starts making their way toward the stage and the crowd starts to awaken, her eyes immediately go back to finding the person she was searching for. It doesn’t take her long - his long silver hair is striking against the others’ plain colors. He was wearing ripped jeans too low on his narrow waist, a torn-up tank stop that looked more like shreds of something else, and he stood ramrod straight in the middle of the stage like he didn’t know where else to go. 

The camera shifts. His face is slightly more visible as he stares, bright-eyed and, honestly, a little scared - Inuyasha, obviously young, in front of his first big audience. His cheeks were dotted with dark purple marks that were made to look like claw marks, and instead of dark eyeliner on his upper lids, they were on his lower ones. He would look positively wild if he didn’t look so damned _nervous_. 

(From somewhere in the room, she hears footsteps take seats in the extra chairs in the back, content to watch. But Inuyasha doesn’t flinch and so neither does she.)

Several of the children recognize him. Shiori is one who audibly gasps and turns around to look at him in her seat before looking at Rin. Rin is the only one who isn’t surprised, and instead pulls her legs up to her chair and props her chin up on her knees. So, she knew, then, about him. Maybe even about his past. Eventually, Kagome’s hand found it’s way back to her lap, but it didn't stay there long. Before she realizes, clawed fingers reach over, questioningly, grazing against her own and she quickly takes the hand as it looks like the band starts to get ready to play. 

The video wasn’t long - only about ten minutes, enough to catch the band’s warm-up number, another round of checking the various tech, and the crowd goes wild for the first song. But, it’s like Inuyasha had told her: as soon as the music starts and he touches the microphone, it’s like all fear had washed from his body. An _instant_ was all it took. And his voice was … it was definitely different from how he sounded, a little higher pitched but it still held the gravel she was so used to. The words were energetic though she was barely paying attention. She just squeezes his hand and feels him squeeze back. This was _everyone’s_ first time watching this video. 

When the song is finished, the crowd erupts. Many of the students clap. Inuyasha pulls his hand back slowly, reaching behind him to stop the video. He nods to her to turn on the light, and she jumps up to do so, but someone had beat her to it. A delicate finger flips the light switch up, gracing the room with light once more, and Kagome squints against the sudden change - she would have at _least_ warned the room! - before she tries to make sense of it. Her eyes stopped on a beautiful, slender woman that reminded her of a porcelain doll, long dark hair falling straight down her body and brown eyes narrow and almost regal as they fell upon her, looking at her like she was sizing her up. 

Two things happen at once.

First, she sees Kaede making her way through the chairs toward the mysterious woman. There’s a look on her face that looks stuck between scolding and apologetic, and the woman turns to her to say something quietly over her shoulder. Kagome somehow feels insulted, but it’s not until she hears a sharp gasp behind her that her face changes completely to worry. 

Inuyasha’s hand was leaning too heavily on the back of the plastic chair he’d been sitting on, knuckles pronounced and white as he stared _hard_ at the other woman by the lights, and Kagome had about two seconds to figure out that his body was having a hard time staying upright. Vaguely, she can hear two voices say the same thing - “He’s going to faint” - and her body starts to move. 

“Inuyasha!” 

Her arms make it around his shoulders, but he’s too heavy for her to keep upright. The children all gasp, shocked and scared at the sudden collapse of their teacher, and Kagome immediately seeks out Shiori and Rin. “Girls, go get the nurse quickly!” her attention swings back to Inuyasha, doing her best to carefully get them both onto the ground, propping his head up onto her lap and brushing his thick silver fringe out of his eyes.

What the _hell_ just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...but i'm also not. >:D


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha wakes up in the nurses office and comes to terms with what's happened.
> 
> content warning: mentions of vomiting - not explicit or descriptive, but it's there!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! ...wow wow, did some stuff happen between updates! 
> 
> you might have noticed the addition to the story's description, and uh. wow. this fic got nominated for 'best angst' in the inuyasha fandom awards! and i honestly haven't been able to stop myself from going back and staring with my face in my hands at the nomination post. i won't dwell on it for too long, but just- thank you. there's plenty more to come, so buckle in!
> 
> sneak peeks have moved from the saturday before upload to the wednesday before! so, jan 27, look out for the ch22 sneak peek, and i'll see you on feb 3 for the full release of ch22! 
> 
> onward to the chapter! c:

One pointed throb in his skull was enough of an indication that he had seen something - some _one_ \- he really could have done without seeing; his eyes were heavy, working against the urge to open them, though the light on the other side of his eyelids was no longer as bright as the lights flicked on in the music room. Lights … turned on by … it hadn’t been Kagome. It had been--

\--his stomach churns. He’s going to throw up. 

It had been a … _really_ long time. He could never forget _her_ , though - she had, for a long while, been one of the most important people to him after his mother had died. She had provided him with a comfort that no one else had given him before; floating presses of hands and offered bottles of something strong that took the pain away, and oh god, he was going to throw up. She was supposed to have stayed _gone_!

His stomach gives one desperate lurch, he makes a deep croak of a sound, and he’s emptying the contents of his stomach into - thankfully - a wastebasket. Claws clutch onto the rim of the basket, digging, and his ears hear the squeaking protest of the cheap plastic as his grip tightens over the hard lip of the bin. Breaths choke out in pants, and he lets out a single cough and spits the remainder of his sick into the basket before pushing it away, and he’s met very suddenly with three presences.

The first is the old woman, whose scent is mixed quite strongly with guilt of some sort, and he knows why she’d feel that way. It _was_ her sister, after all.

The second was the nurse, and definitely the strongest scent as far as filling up the most space in the room. He can just hear her moving around, ears trying to find something to focus on to ignore the slamming of his brain around his skull.

The third presence was the closest to him, pressed close, scent sweet like vanilla but tinged bitter with upset. It was, undoubtedly...

“Inuyasha? Take it easy.” Kagome’s hand rests gently on his back right between his shoulders, and his back arches into the touch, immediately seeking her comfort. Her scent is the only one he can seem to pick out of the room and focus on enough to calm his body down, to ease the reaction of the shock rippling through him. He pulls in a gentle breath, holds it, and lets it out. Does it a couple more times until his heart rate calms, his body stops trembling, and his eyes slowly slide open enough to glare at the ground. 

What the _hell_ was fucking _Kikyo Honda_ doing here?! He hadn’t even _thought_ about her, hadn’t willed this on himself, so what? She had done enough damage when he was young, and stupid, and had no damn _right_ just _showing up_! His stomach lurches again but he swallows down the urge, and a hand wraps around his neck to hug his head, pulling it toward a warm chest covering a rapid heartbeat, and he pulls in Kagome’s scent and lets himself be held there for a bit. 

She … smelled good. Comfortable, and … _safe_.

“I suppose you don’t need my help any longer,” Ms. Honda says from somewhere across the room, just beyond his mind’s ability to concentrate on it. “I’ll see to the children until you return.” 

“Thanks, Kaede,” he hears Kagome's voice say softly, close enough to him that his ear flicks as her warm breath fans out over it. “Just have them talk amongst themselves for now. We’ll be back in a little while.”

“Understood.” 

With that, she turns out of the nurse’s room. The nurse quietly excuses herself, insisting she call her son at medical school, and that leaves the two of them in the room alone. That suited him just fine. It at least gives Inuyasha a second to ground himself, figure out where he is for the first time. He was, or had been, half-laying on the soft cot against the wall in the nurse's office, Kagome sitting on the edge by his knees. When he’d sat up to retch, she sat closer, and he was now curled against her chest and was calming by the minute. 

She didn’t seem to mind that his hairline was a little clammy, but she did quietly comment that color was already starting to come back to his face. Taking one more deep breath, he buries his nose into the crook of her neck. 

Kagome’s fingers idly brush through his fringe; she had _never_ seen him look like that before. She hadn’t seen _anyone_ just … _collapse_ like that before. In truth, she’d been a little scared, even if he hadn’t lost total consciousness. Kaede had ushered the other woman to leave with her, calling her ‘Kikyo’, and judging by Inuyasha’s reaction, he had known her. There was a piece of his story that revolved around her, and she wanted to know what it was, though was in no hurry to find out when it came to reactions like _this_. Her questions certainly wouldn’t get answered anytime soon, so it was best to drop it for now. 

“You scared the crap out of me,” she said, forcing a laugh into it to try and lighten the mood. “I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it to you in time.” 

“Stupid,” he mutters against the skin of her neck, which makes her have to actively try not to shudder. “Shouldn’a tried to catch me.” 

“So, next time you want me to let you fall and hit your head?”

As he lifts his head slightly to try to turn a glare at her, he seems taken aback by the fact that her expression lacks the annoyed heat he almost wished would be there. Instead, her lips quirk up and she says in some sort of relief, “Got you to look at me,” before she gets up and moves over to grab a short paper cup, running to the sink in the corner to fill it with water. Walking back over, she sits back where she was and holds the cup out to him. “Here.”

Without a second thought, he takes the cup and downs it, swishing it around in his mouth for a couple seconds before spitting it into the wastebasket. He tosses the cup in there, too, before he sighs. “Guess you wanna know what … _that_ was.”

“I do,” she says simply. “But not right now.”

His ears were flattened back, like he had perhaps expected a scold or something, and she sighs softly to herself before leaning forward to rub at the tiny tufts of hair at the tip of his ear. There’s a slight tremble to his shoulders as she gently rubs her thumb along his ear, and she sits back down next to him, taking her hand back in the process. “Did you want me to finish the class today?” 

For a beat, she thinks he might agree, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. But then, he gives her a confident, sure look, and it makes her heart thump loudly in her chest. “I can do it. ‘s long as you’re there.” Then, as if he realized what he said, he ducks his head to hide his expression.

 _B-Bmp! B-Bmp!_ Her heartbeat was suddenly all she could hear for a few seconds, before she figures she should answer him. 

“O-Of course I’ll be there.” Kagome tilts her head a bit, confusion sticking to the line of her brow as she looks up at him. His eyes soften slightly, like knowing she was there was a relief, and that makes her sit up a little more to match his determination. “No question - we’re a team now, remember?” _As if there was any doubt…_

Nodding his head, almost to himself, Inuyasha looks toward the door and gives a good sniff of the air. He seems to relax further - maybe that woman was gone now, whoever she was - before reaching his hand out toward her. “Alright. Let’s go, Kagome.” 

“Mhm!” she stands up, taking his hand, and the way his fingers grip hers like she was holding him up isn’t lost on her as they make their way out of the nurse’s office and down the hall toward the music room staircase. 

_B-Bmp! B-Bmp!_

* * *

The students walk on eggshells for the entire rest of class, which seems to irritate Inuyasha. In a way, she can understand why, but she also knows that it was far from _their_ fault. Nevertheless, they manage to get through class alright, and the rest of the day for that matter, and Kagome’s a little too relieved when the last of the students make their exit. 

Inuyasha’s almost in a daze as he finishes putting away the chairs, stacking them in their proper place. Kagome watches him worriedly, unable to really help it; he hadn’t really come back to his usual self since they got back in the room, though she tried not to blame him too much. He was at least able to act a little normal when it came to the teaching aspect, but as the students all spread out around the room to continue practicing their guitar playing - Rin stuck by Shiori, content to keep her distance from Inuyasha for now - he went right back to his dazed state, staring at a spot on the wall with virtually no expression. 

Not used to seeing him like that, Kagome’s mind wanders. 

_I wonder if she’s someone from his music days_ , she watches him almost glide across the room, narrowly missing falling on his face when the toe of his boot kicks into one of the white board’s legs. He curses under his breath, looks a second from slashing the thing to bits, before turning away with a tired huff. _No doubt, since if it was someone from our childhood, I’d at least recognize her. But I wonder how she knows Kaede - are they related?_

In her thinking, she doesn’t realize that Inuyasha was watching her, and it’s not until his voice had already dipped into that frustrated register that she snaps out of it. He looks pretty annoyed, and she flushes in embarrassment. “Uh, sorry. What were you saying?” 

“Get yer’ butt goin’. I’m shutting everything down.” 

“R-Right. Sorry!” 

“Keh.”

She stands up and joins him near the narrow hallway, his fingers long enough to cut off all the lights in the room at once, and she starts walking down the hall. His hand rests on the small of her back, which is a welcome feeling, as they walk down the stairs at the same speed. When they reach the bottom, Inuyasha’s hands take their usual place in his pockets, and Kagome almost hesitates to touch before doing so anyway. Her arm loops through his and she presses herself up close to him, wondering if maybe he might need space for all of a couple seconds as he pulls his hand out of his pocket and thus, out of her own. However, his arm circling around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, quickly assuages her worries. 

“Inuyasha?” she questions curiously. 

“I don’t know why she’s here,” he says softly, which makes her bite her lower lip worriedly. “But it don’t matter, because we got other stuff to worry about.” 

“The showcase,” Kagome confirms, wrapping her arm around his back. Inuyasha releases a sigh it feels like he’d been holding forever. 

“Well. That too, but…” 

Their feet carry them outside before she even realizes it, the sunshine nearly blinding her as she puts her other hand up to block it. The playground still had a couple of children playing around on it, people she assumed were their parents watching over them. She recognizes one girl from Mr. Takayama’s class, who waves at her, and she waves back with the hand blocking out the sun. That hand shoots out to open the gate, and Inuyasha holds it open as she exits through it. He hesitates to close it behind her, and she turns around to look at him confused. 

“I still got some things to do around here,” he explains, but he doesn’t move away from the gate. She walks up to him, smiling gently. He looks at her like he’s thinking about something, saying it maybe, before his hand reaches out to her. She hardly has to think about taking it, though is surprised when he pulls her against the sturdy length of his body, arms winding around her shoulders. The gate, attempting to close, lands against her hip. “But I…”

Kagome found herself completely captivated by the look she'd seen in his eyes; it was a heavy feeling, like his gaze was draping over her not unlike a heavy quilt, but he looks like he’s battling something she can’t see. A part of her wants to push herself back to look at him, to study the expression on his face. Her heartbeat is loud in her ears, her face is incredibly warm, and something compels her to touch him. She pulls her face back enough to see her hand's trajectory as it reaches for his cheek, and he starts to duck down to make it easier for her to reach. 

“Inuyasha?” her voice is soft, trapped between them. “What did you … what were you going to say?” 

_B-Bmp! B-Bmp!_

He visibly gulps at her question, ears moving under the bandana, before he ducks down a little bit more. _He’s … getting so close. Almost like…_ Kagome leans in a little, her body moving almost on its own, before he fits his forehead on hers. “I just…” he starts, rubbing his nose against hers briefly before leaning back mere inches from her face. Kagome’s face feels like she’d dunked it into lava, and a breath leaves her in more of a pant as she tries to search for a hint of what he wanted to say in his eyes, which burned molten. 

When the words don’t come to him, she squeezes his fingers in her hand. “Let’s have dinner on Friday night.”

For a minute, he looks confused as to what she means, but his face quickly morphs to understanding. Nodding his head, he pulls her face in and places a simple kiss to her forehead, which makes her eyes close contentedly until he releases her and starts to walk away. She watches him go, hands clutching the fence, before she takes a couple of steps away toward where she knew her car was parked. Her eyes watch him enter the school again, her skin tingling where his lips had touched, and she turns away to run right to her car.

 _My heart is racing…_ pressing one hand to her chest, she tries to get a grip, pulling in deep breaths. Her other hand dives into her messenger bag to pull out the lanyard that her car keys were attached to, and she starts the car and waits. Her tongue absently licks between her lips as her eyes flick back up to look at the door of the school again, Inuyasha having gone inside already, before she carefully backs up and starts the trek back home.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha has a confrontation; the next morning, inuyasha and kagome pitch 'the showcase' to kaede.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, and welcome to the next installment!! 
> 
> i'm not gonna lie - the best thing i did was move updates to every other week instead of every week. gives me a chance to stay ahead and plenty of time to edit instead of cramming it in on the weekend when i usually have other stuff going on. things are much more lax now, but the action is picking up behind the scenes! i talk about it in very little, vague detail on tumblr (and tease ruddcatha about it- sorry not sorry ;D) so if that's a thing you're interested in, you can give me a follow. if not, well, i have other things planned for that too. but, without further ado, let's get to what ya came here for!

It was the first time in a _long_ time that his pain lingered so close to the surface, memories he’d elected to trap behind a smokescreen of anger now broken through and skittering around his heart like tiny insects; he would be the first to admit that he wasn’t exactly _close_ with the old woman, but there was no _way_ she would be so-- so _cruel_ as to not give him proper warning before he was forced to come face to face with… with...

His long-lost former promoter (and former love), Kikyo Honda.

Inuyasha’s boot-clad feet carried him into the main office, ignoring the protests from the secretary behind her desk that he ‘couldn’t just barge in without proper warning’ in favor of storming right up to Principal Honda’s office and doing her the courtesy of knocking heavy, angry fists on the closed door but ignoring all politeness by marching in anyway. “You’ve got a lotta nerve, old woman!” 

Kaede looked up, looking only mildly shocked by his outburst and narrowing her eye slightly at his lack of respect. However, the look almost immediately melted from her gaze as she held out a hand for him to take a seat across from her. “I hope you are not implying that I _knew_ my sister was going to show up out of the blue and request a tour of my school.” 

“Don’t pretend like ya don’t know what I’m talkin’ about.” Inuyasha chooses, instead of sitting like she requested, to pace back and forth a couple of paces, trying to figure out just what it was she was doing. A tiny growl punctuates just how he feels about the situation, rumbling low in his throat. At Kaede’s patient silence, he walks straight for the desk and splays shaking fingers onto it’s sturdy wooden surface. “Tell me why. Tell me why you didn’t _warn me_. If I knew … if I knew she--” 

Damn it, it was hard to talk about her. It always had been, to even _think_ about it, about her … and now he was forced to do it. Life had been hard enough after his mother’s death, but being abandoned a second time by a person he thought that he had loved? That had cut deeply, too. He’d _needed_ her, or someone, _anything_ and he was given _nothing_ but lyrics he hated and an endless supply of bitter grief. His nails - his claws - splinter in the wood, cutting up the tips of his fingers, and in that moment he hopes that he can ruin the desk to the point where she has to fucking replace it. 

“I assure you that I had never planned to bring her to see you,” her voice is too gentle. It sounds too much like _hers_ , and he spins away, ignoring the way his fingers ached to destroy something else. A sound is yanked from his very _soul_ at that realization, anguished and suddenly _very_ aware of it. His nose twitches as he tries to get his emotions under control. “Inuyasha, if it brings you any comfort, she will not be staying long. She will not be taking up any position here nor will she be moving back. It is just a brief visit.” 

“Wish I could lie and tell ya I feel better.” Stopping his movements, he turns his head to look at her. It’s easier to keep the glare at bay, now that he knows this wasn’t permanent. But still… _What’ll Kagome say when I tell her?_

Kaede releases a sigh, nodding her head. “It cannot be helped, I’m afraid. I can only give you what I have. Though this time, I can give you a proper warning: she wants to stop by in the afternoon sometime this week to meet Kagome formally. She seems rather … intrigued by her.”

“Why the hell would she wanna meet her if she ain’t stayin’?” _This ain't good. It's the furthest thing from good... fuck._

“As I told you, my sister Kikyo--” _Please don’t say her name…_ “--seems to like Ms. Higurashi. At the very least, I think she is curious about her. If you are truly so worried, you can always come yourself.” 

_Abso-fucking-lutely not._ “Keh. Ain’t worried.” 

“Suit yourself,” Kaede smiles in a curious way that makes Inuyasha turn his head away. There was no ignoring the growing heat to his cheeks; he wasn’t necessarily worried, though he wasn’t thrilled that _she_ wanted to meet Kagome. It was a little strange, and highly uncomfortable on his own part. With a nod of her head, Kaede gives him a questioning look. “Was that all you wanted?” 

Feeling his ears lower under his bandana, he crosses his arms; well, he was already here, so he might as well get this over with. “As a matter of fact, there was one more thing…”

* * *

When Kagome gets the text from Inuyasha early the next morning, she’s nothing short of surprised but equal parts excited:

‘ **Got that meeting with Honda.  
****Meet me in the music room when you get to school** ’

Needless to say, she had gotten ready quickly, sacrificing taming her thick hair in favor of brushing it out and then twisting it into a tight braid. A layer of frost kissed the yellowing grass outside, a chilly breeze kissing the tip of her nose as she stepped out into the morning air that was tipping over the cooler edge of crisp. She was glad she’d chosen a light sweater instead of her usual short-sleeved blouse. 

The earlier drive to school allowed her to get a good look at the world before it came to life, windows dark inside buildings and houses. The only cars on the road were those of people off to work. There was a person or two out for a morning run, but otherwise life was totally still and quiet and she found herself taking in a deep breath and sighing out. Her radio played quietly, just on the cusp of her hearing, talking about ‘rising temperature’ this and ‘cold front later in the week’ that. A second sigh rushes out in a huff before she turns onto the road leading her to school. 

Usually, she got to school early enough that she could drop her things off in Mr. Takayama's classroom and have a few minutes to socialize should she take it, but she was much earlier today. Mostly, she wanted to get to this meeting as soon as possible … or, well, she also wanted to check in on Inuyasha, too. Make sure he was really alright. 

(There’s a part of her that’s surprised that he came to work at all, after how quickly his mood and energy plummeted yesterday.)

As she pulls into her usual parking spot in front of the playground, her eyes rove over the swing sets and pavement, surprised but also not to see that it was virtually empty. The stillness had stretched itself here, too. 

Getting out, grabbing her messenger bag and extra cardigan, is a quick affair. Her fingers push the gate open and lock it back in place, and with a determined grin, she walks up to the large door and lets herself in. The hallways almost glisten as the fluorescent lights gleam and reflect off of the polished floor, and she takes off her shoes in order not to mess up the shine, knowing without a doubt who got it that way in the first place. Scuffling and sliding across the floor, she makes her way over to the first staircase rather than going all the way to the one at the end of the hall, figuring she’d see if Mr. Takayama was in his classroom yet so she could drop her things off. 

As she gets up the stairs and steps onto the carpeted second floor, she slips her shoes back on, tapping her toes on the carpeted floor twice before making her way to the classroom. The lights inside were still off, and she’d wager the door was locked too. _I wonder what time he comes in?_ Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, she brushes her fingers through her hair before turning in the direction of the music room, stepping with purpose and confidence. 

The door to the music room is closed, but she can see the lights on inside, so she lets herself in. She can hear hushed conversation, the voices just a touch too soft for her to be able to discern who was talking and what they were talking about, and as she rounds the corner to take in whoever was there, she finds herself breathless. 

Inuyasha, wearing his red coveralls, stands against the simple piano. His silver hair is down to his hips, loose and wet, the ends curling slightly; there’s a softness to his face as he talks quietly to a shorter, older person she can only assume is Ms. Honda, whose hair is wrapped in a tight bun rather than it’s usual low ponytail. His eyes, usually burning amber and intense, are more like a warm honey as they look somewhere away, obviously not aware that she’d come in yet. His ears aren’t covered. 

His ears aren’t _covered._

Kagome’s expression softens, melts into a smile. 

With a sigh, he looks back at Ms. Honda, opening his mouth to say something before his eyes flick over at her, widening slightly, a slight flush to his cheeks as he takes her in. “Ka-Kagome,” he says, only a little louder than he was already speaking, and the older woman turns to regard her with a cheerful expression. Kagome’s smile turns up a bit more at the corners, excitement to get the meeting underway taking her over, and she finishes stepping into the room. 

“Good morning,” she says cheerfully, dropping her bag and cardigan on a nearby chair before standing beside Inuyasha. 

“Good morning, Miss Higurashi,” Ms. Honda smiles at her. “Shall we get this underway, then?”

“Mm-hm!”

As Ms. Honda takes up a seat nearby and folds her hands on her lap, Kagome looks to Inuyasha, the two sharing a look of ‘ _Should you start, or should I?_ ’ before Inuyasha sticks his hands in the deep pockets of the coveralls. Not sure how he felt about her sidling up beside him in front of others, she just crosses her hands behind her back and allows him to take the lead. 

“So, Kagome and I came up with the idea of a showcase.” 

“A … showcase.” With a thoughtful frown, Ms. Honda regards them both, then nods. “Go on.” 

Inuyasha surges on. “Right, so- the kids. They asked about doing more with music than just my class. And I bet the art department has kids that wanna do more classes there besides whatever they do. So here’s the thing: we combine the efforts and do one giant showcase. We sell tickets, rent a big venue and make this a _big deal_. This stuff … it’s important for kids. Human _and_ demon ones. It gives ‘em a place to belong in a world that still ain’t completely accepting yet.” Inuyasha’s ears flatten, his eyes cast down to the floor, which makes his expression unreadable as it’s shadowed by his fringe. Stepping closer to him, Kagome rests her hand on his shoulder. 

His head turns slightly to look at her, and she smiles encouragingly. She takes over. 

“Music and art - kids their age need it to build social skills. It’s everything that Inuyasha said, but it’s also so much more. It’s _so_ important that they have a place where they can be themselves and be with other people who like what they like with no social barriers. Everyone needs an outlet, so shouldn’t we do our part as adults and make sure those outlets are constructive and let them _create_?”

Kaede nods her head. “I agree wholeheartedly. This is a brilliant idea, Mr. Takahashi and Miss Higurashi. I _knew_ putting you two together would only bring better things … but I _must_ implore, Inuyasha…” she gives him a look that makes him chew on his bottom lip for a second before he nods. 

“She knows about me.”

Kagome’s fingers twitch on his shoulder, and she moves her hand down to rub between his shoulder blades comfortingly. 

“Ah, excellent.” Standing up and straightening out her blouse and long skirt, she laced her fingers behind her back and regards them kindly. “And I assume you have met with art director Kotatsu?”

Kagome chuckles nervously, scratching her cheek idly. “Well…”

“Ah,” she nods her head, her one eye closing in thought before she regards them both again. “Think nothing of it, then. I shall meet with him by the end of the day, and hopefully come to a conclusion by tomorrow. The both of you stay put after school then, and we can all discuss the plan going forward.” 

Tomorrow, Wednesday. 

“Fine,” Inuyasha says, bearing down on the older woman, eyes once more growing intense. Ms. Honda thinks nothing of it, shrugging her shoulders slightly before casting them a wave and making her leave. When they’re left alone - Inuyasha’s ears swivel toward the hallway, listening, and flatten again - he lets out a deep sigh and smacks his forehead with his palm. Kagome watches him worriedly. “Man, damn it, she really knows how to get on my nerves.” 

“What do you mean?” Kagome tilts her head to the side, confused. “We got the greenlight, practically, so maybe we can tell the kids? And that means we can start making preparations, and- why are you looking at me like that?” 

‘Like that’ was an exhausted scowl, a facial expression she hadn’t seen on his face in a long-enough time that it drew more concern than ire, and she pulled her hand from his back carefully like that might be what had caused it. Instead, she balls her hand into a loose fist and leans her elbow on the top of the piano, leaning her chin onto her fisted hand. 

“…forget it. Guess we’ll see how tomorrow goes.” 

Kagome nods her head. “I'm sure it'll be okay. And even if it isn't, we've got Friday to look forward to."

Inuyasha’s ears perk up a little at that, his eyebrows raising slightly like he was surprised she’d still want to spend time with him. Putting on her brightest smile, she makes motion to wrap her arm through his, but he turns fully to her and pulls her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her. It surprises her at first, not expecting it, but she recovers from that surprise quickly to wrap her arms around his back and hold on tight. The warm flush to her cheeks was, gratefully, hidden in his sturdy chest and she breathes him in and _swears_ she hears him do the same to her. 

“I never thought … that … _Kagome_...”

“Inuyasha?” if she weren’t busy hiding her flushed face, she might have tried to search his above her. He wasn’t very good at words when they weren’t biting, angry, and she knew that by now. Still, she wants him to finish all of those unfinished thoughts, _needs_ to know what he’s holding back with such tenderness in his voice as he says her name. “Inuyasha… talk to me.”

There’s little heat in the scoff he lets out, more under his breath than anything. _Keh_. As if he was reluctant to do so, his arms slowly loosen from around her, and as she looks up ready with a jokey comment, she’s immediately quieted by the look in his eyes and the slight color to his own cheeks. They held that same softness in them that she had seen before, and seeing it this close made her heart thump loudly in her chest and her knees start to buckle. She was glad his arms were still somewhat around her, because if they weren’t, she might have gone down. 

This softness … this was for _her_. Kagome wasn’t sure when it had gotten there, but it made her heart flutter in her chest as she gazed at him with wide eyes. 

_Could … he have feelings for me, too?_

There … there was no _way_ …

Right?


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha and kagome have a much-needed heart to heart about his former producer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy update wednesday! i hope this chapter finds you safe and comfortable. 
> 
> i don't have much to say this time around, no huge life updates or anything, though if you follow me on tumblr i've done my fair share of yelling about the writing process quite a few chapters ahead. it. it sure has been Something. including the perfect situation where i can make inuyasha be an idiot. c: take that as you wish!
> 
> onwards, friendos!

Kagome practically flutters through the morning, half of her mind present with her as she sits with Shippo in the back of the classroom, the other half still wrapped up in Inuyasha’s embrace; there was no question now that, possibly, her feelings were reciprocated, even as new a 'they' as they were. But then, since this all started, there had always been a ‘them’, an ‘us’, a ‘we’ - and she’d never really questioned it, because they had been just two people put on the same team. Now … they were more than that. They were friends, they were partners, they were--

“Kagome,” Shippo’s voice cuts through her thoughts, and she looks at him, flushing when she realizes she’d been staring off into space; she didn’t much mind that he used her first name, especially because he always had the cutest little grin on his face when he said it. If it made him more comfortable, that was all that mattered. “You look really sleepy, do you wanna go take a nap?” 

Sleepy … she must have a real goofy look on her face, then, which makes her giggle a little too loudly. “Oh, no, nothing like that, really!” Looking back down at the book in front of him, she tries to shift herself back into teacher-mode, looking up as Mr. Takayama talked the class through the reading assignment and questions at the end, and she looked back down. “Do you … need help with any of the questions?” 

“I have to read it first,” Shippo’s voice is playful, like he might have an inkling of why she was so distracted, and she laughs a little. 

“Right. So, get reading, kiddo.” She leans in to read the passages assigned, but she can’t quite focus. At that moment, Kagome’s glad she was a teacher and not a student, because she’s pretty sure she’d put herself in a panic over her inability to absorb the text on the page. From the corner of her eye, she can see Shippo give her a funny look before looking down to the book, and she darts her eyes to confirm he had put forth more effort than she before she sighs and tears her eyes away from the book. 

Before she knows it, the first recess bell chimes through the halls, and each of the children start to stand and head for the door. The sound of raucous laughter and enthusiastic yelling rings true through the hallways, making Kagome shake her head at the amount of energy the students all had even in the morning, and she starts to stand as well. Koga looks ready to leave the room as well, but she rushes after him. 

“Ah, Koga, wait a sec. Can I ask a favor?” 

“Sure, Kagome,” his lips pull up in a smile she could only describe as wolfish, and he opens the door to let them both through. This time, she follows him out into the hall and to the teacher’s room, where he no doubt was going to get himself some coffee. “What can I do for you?” 

She almost tells him to keep his mind in friendlier places, but she knew it was close to hopeless. His feelings were on full display, even after he acknowledged she and Inuyasha might be together. (And if that doesn’t make her heart skip a little bit at the thought…) Placing her hands in front of her in a prayer position, she asks, “Is it possible that tomorrow morning, I could steal a bit of the students’ time? I have a bit of an announcement to make, a project I’m doing, and I could use all the help I could get. Please?”

It hardly looks like he gives it much thought, and she’s at least a little glad for that. “I don’t see why not. Tomorrow’s a light classwork day, anyway, so maybe the last ten minutes before lunch? Is that enough time?” 

“It should be.” _I’ve only been practicing the pitch over and over since last weekend_ , she thought. “Thank you so much.” 

“No problem, Kagome.” Although she should have been prepared for such a thing, Koga wrapping his hands around hers makes her give him a look, like ‘You better not try anything funny’, before he lets her go. Just like that, the smell of coffee fills the room and she turns to look at it. “What’s the project?”

So Kagome shares with him the plan for the showcase, keeping it vague when she tells him she’s teaming up with another teacher - not for any other reason than he’d start to give Inuyasha a harder time than normal, since they’d be spending so much more time together - and that she wants the children to put in as much hard work as she and Inuyasha are to save that which they love. Koga nods along, expressing his pride and enthusiasm, though he admits he isn’t very artistic. Still, his support means a good deal to her. 

They part ways after that, Kagome choosing to roam the halls to eventually find her way outside. No doubt, Shiori and Rin were having a blast outside, now that the former had someone to spend time with and help her deal with the bullies. Luckily, she hasn’t heard about any bullying or fights. 

Yes. It was a perfectly fine day.

* * *

Telling the younger students about the showcase had gone off without a hitch. Kagome figured it would be exciting for them, though she wasn’t sure if they yet recognized the importance of ‘raising funds’ for their class. She supposed they wouldn’t, not because they lacked the intelligence, but because the younger class was more carefree, energetic, and she liked that about them. Inuyasha, surprisingly, didn’t try to make them see the importance of it and was just relieved that they seemed excited. There were quite a few volunteers for people to help with smaller parts of the show, not just performing, like Shippo who wanted to be some sort of scout to bring in other students - and a girl, Soten, who quickly announced she wanted to do the same thing. 

The two of them shared a comically-intense exchange, glaring at each other, and Kagome figured they were having some sort of competition. As long as things didn’t get out of hand, she didn’t feel the need to interfere.

It was the older class she was _really_ excited about telling, though. Because it was the students in _that_ class that had expressed interest in doing more. They would be coming in at the end of their afternoon recess - as Kagome looks up at the clock hanging on the wall above her, she screws up her mouth in thought; the students wouldn’t be here for a while yet, which wasn’t entirely fair, because now her mind was starting to shift over to her partner, who was busy staring out the window at his desk, reclining back slightly in a position that looked like it could have been comfortable. 

Could have been, but Kagome knew Inuyasha well enough by now, and could see the way his body was coiled up with tension. It looked like he was ready to jump up at any minute. 

Chewing on her bottom lip, she takes the time to really take him in, the way he tried to appear nonchalant. She wondered if he was aware that she knew it was a lie, that she could see through the charade as easily as she could see the world outside. It didn’t seem like the type of thing he’d think about. 

Could he be thinking about earlier? (When she does, she feels heat coloring her face, can still feel the way his arms pulled her close and made her feel like her body fit perfectly against his… oh boy, her face must be red as a tomato now) Did he regret it? Or, maybe worse … was it _just_ a hug, and something else was bothering him? 

Standing up, Kagome huffs out a breath before making her way over to him, trying not to freak him out. The last thing she wanted was for him to get angry because she scared him or something. Her concern goes out the window when she sees his ear flick as she comes closer, and his head turns to look at her, expression unreadable as he looks at her. Almost … looking _through_ her at something else. 

“Hey.” 

Kagome can’t help but snort out something that she _meant_ to be a laugh. “‘Hey’? What’s wrong? You look like you’re thinking about bolting…” 

Again, his ear flicks. She knows it wasn’t a fly. “Nothin’ wrong. And I’m not goin’ anywhere.” Crossing his arms, claw-tipped fingers tapping against his biceps - it hardly seemed like the time to notice the bulging of his muscular arms, but she noticed anyway - he turned away from the window to face her before standing up. He uncrosses his arms and tucks his thumbs into his pockets, tapping his fingers now against his jeans. “Just thinkin’ about something old Kaede told me yesterday.” 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Kagome looked over at the clock, mostly for his benefit. “We have some time before class. A good chunk, actually.” 

Inuyasha seems to struggle with that information, but Kagome would be patient. As her mother always taught her, ‘you catch more flies with honey than vinegar’. Looking back at him and giving him her best comforting smile, she grabs his hand and pulls him over to a couple of chairs. She puts her other hand on his shoulder and barely has to apply pressure as he practically falls into his chair, her following carefully on her own beside him. “Inuyasha, if something’s bothering you, I’m here to listen.” 

“Kagome,” he breathes, looking at her, before his fingers gain a bit of strength and adjusts his grip so he’s holding her hand properly. It’s in the same way as before, like she was keeping him from sinking, a _lifeline_. It makes her heart hurt and swell all at the same time. “It’s just … that woman. From before. She … _ugh_ , damn it.” 

“Take your time.” Smile. 

“Her … _sigh_. She’s Honda’s younger sister, and a big-time promoter. I … a long time ago, she…” 

“ _Before I could say ‘no’, I had a manager, who hired a promoter … and a band and a whole mess of people I didn’t really know_.”

Kagome’s eyes widen slightly at the memory. That woman … she must have been…?

“She was your promoter,” she finishes. “That your old manager hired. Right?” 

Inuyasha rubs his hand over his face, letting it hover over his mouth, like he was worried he might throw up again. She squeezes the hand in hers. When his feeling of nausea passes, he nods his head, gulping. “Y-Yeah. But. She was more than that.” 

“Oh…” she whispers, practically _whimpers_. That makes his ears flatten against his head, and he winces. 

“When I started gettin’ asked to go to events, she was the one who told me what’s what about everybody and everything,'' he began slowly. “She always had’ta hang off my arm, and people would always talk. I wasn’t _that_ young or nothin’, but young enough that it didn’t take long to become their favorite conspiracy to push on a willing audience. ‘Was our relationship more, or strictly business’ sorta thing.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, before gazing sad eyes down at their intertwined fingers. “It _was_ business. ‘til it wasn’t.” 

Kagome isn’t sure she’s thrilled that her heart can fill in the blanks - that woman was hired as a promoter, who got close to her client, and … what? Took advantage of him? But, the sound of his voice doesn’t sound angry or bitter. Instead it was … sad. And she didn’t like it. 

“She … _Kikyo_ … I was her first client. Fresh outta college, brilliant, passionate … I was young, and because I was young, I was stupid. I f-” his voice stops short, and he looks at her under his bangs. Kagome rubs her thumb over the side of his thumb. “At first, we thought it was funny that people thought we were together. Then, the jokes stopped. She was … _everything_ . I’d never had someone look at me like she did; even if she only looked at me when I--” His voice trails off, and as if he almost caught himself saying something he shouldn’t, he shakes his head. “Thing is, I didn’t _care_. To me, back then, the way she treated me meant so much…” 

“So…” when it was obvious he wasn’t going to say more, Kagome leans toward him, and murmurs so just he could hear. “What happened?” 

Inuyasha looked at her and gulped, nodding his head, as if in an attempt to urge himself on. His fingers twitch where they’re laced with hers, and he squeezes them. There’s no hesitation when Kagome squeezes back, anchoring him. “Things got real hard after Mother’s accident. I wanted to stop, but the label wouldn’t let me. I told ya that.” She nods. “Thing is, I hoped she’d understand. Kikyo. Thought she might be on my side, because we had a … _thing_ , and I thought she cared like I did for her. But she didn’t. I felt alone, tired, and angry. She kept alcohol on the bus for after concerts. Not … for me.” He quickly added, since Kagome’s angry gasp had cut through his memory. She felt herself start to relax, but didn’t like where he was headed. “I remember being pissed about my life, and wishin’ there was something to take the edge off, and she offered me a drink of some liquor she was drinkin’.

“A lotta people refer to that as the start of my ‘fall from grace’. Blame her for it. Some blame me, too. I did and said a lotta stupid, shitty stuff because I was angry and miserable. Seein’ her brought back all those memories. Feeling like I had, everything, all at once … in _front_ of people…” 

Kagome reaches to brush her fingers through his fringe, making sure he can’t hide his face from her as she looks into his eyes; how … _awful_ , she couldn’t imagine what kind of feelings he’d buried deep in his soul. She wondered if he’d have ever told her had that woman, _Kikyo_ , never showed up. Inuyasha sighs deeply, eyes closing. It was obvious to Kagome that he was digging at his old wounds like a kid clawing at a pesky scab, and she pulled her hand away to place on his cheek. When his eyes open again, he leans more into her touch, and she can see the pain muting the amber of his eyes. 

She _swore_ when she saw her again, Kagome was going to give that Kikyo woman a piece of her mind…

“Hey. Whoa.” Looking mildly panicked, Inuyasha pulled his hand back to join his other in gripping her shoulders. “Don’t look like that.” 

“Like what.” Not even a question - Kagome knew what she looked like.

“So pissed. _Like that_.” His hands move from her shoulders to her face, cupping her cheeks. Kagome watches as his eyes flick from her eyes to her mouth, and he presses his palms against her cheeks to make her pink lips pout almost comically, and it draws a soft snort from him. “I don’t wanna think about all that, about her, ‘cause I’m tryin’ to think about--”

The way he cuts himself off by snapping his mouth shut so hard his teeth click doesn’t escape Kagome’s brain - more specifically, her wishful thinking; she can almost hear a quiet ‘ _about you_ ’ in a shy voice, but she’s not sure if it’s real, so she tries not to get excited. But, truth be told … she couldn’t help it. 

Kagome’s arms wrap around his neck almost of their own accord, pulling him against her in an embrace. The way he almost collapses against her, one arm wrapping around her waist, tips of his claws tickling her side as he clutches onto her … she feels herself sigh through her nose. She gets brave, pushing his head onto her shoulder with her hand, fingers dipping into his hair, and how his head willingly dips in makes her chew on her lip. 

Moving her head to lean on his, she idly considers just how deep her feelings and care for him go.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> inuyasha surprises kagome in a new way; kagome goes shopping with sango.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everybody! happy wednesday! hope everyone's staying safe and sane (and if you're a little down, i hope things get better!) 
> 
> this chapter is partly filler, but we're getting closer to some real fun stuff, so just hold your horses and goats and bunnies and buckle in for this nice and quiet chapter. c: hope you enjoy!!

The excited chattering of their second and final class of the day is contagious, Kagome thinks, as she watches them walk through the narrow hall and spread out into the larger music room to take their self-assigned seats; Inuyasha was writing something down on the whiteboard, the handkerchief pushed up to his nose, and she can’t help but watch the way his face looks entirely too focused on what he’s doing. She has to laugh, but keeps it inside for now, choosing instead to walk over to the board to see for herself what he was focusing on so intently. 

A table with two columns, split with a simple dark line. On one side, he had begun writing the names of everyone in the class, and the other side he left blank. There was a similar table to the side, names of the younger class and their chosen roles for the showcase. There were some curious murmurings from the students as they looked between the board and each other, and under the pink bandana tied around his head, Kagome could see his ears twitch. 

“Alright, everybody, let’s settle in!” Kagome chips cheerfully, clasping her hands together. 

Gradually, their voices settle, looking expectantly between herself and Inuyasha. The cap of a marker pops closed and with a gruff clear of his throat, Inuyasha pulls their attention solely to him. Kagome opens her mouth to properly greet them when Inuyasha leans his elbow on the top of her head, using her as a leaning post, and the frustration on her face is apparently funny enough for various voices - Rin’s standing out to her most - to laugh out in amusement. Sighing, she turns to glare at him, but at his fanged grin her glare dies to a slight narrowing of her eyes. 

“Right, runts. Miss Higurashi ‘n I have a surprise for ya before we get started.” Jerking his arm at the elbow and pointing toward the board with his thumb, he gives them all a curious look. “In the spring, the music and art programs are combining our efforts to raise money by havin’ a showcase. All the details are still gettin’ hammered out, but we--” _we_ again, “--wanted to give the music classes first notice since you’re all the ones who expressed interest in more.” His eyes look over to the board, the marker on the bottom of it, and then to Kagome. “Can you go write for me?” 

Nodding, Kagome runs over to the board and uncaps the marker. 

“I wanna sing!” Rin jumps up onto her feet, smile almost too wide for her face. Her eyes are saucers, sparkling under the lights as she gazes at Inuyasha. “I know a lot of songs!” 

Inuyasha looks at Kagome and nods, which she answers with a nod of her own, and she writes it down next to Rin’s name. One by one, students start to stand and announce what they want to do - a few more want to sing, others want to play an instrument; a couple want to help with set up and tasks that don’t necessarily include performing, and Kagome grins as she writes them down. Almost everyone had picked something … except for Shiori. 

Looking over her shoulder, Kagome gazes over at her. Shiori wasn’t looking up, at least not the whole time; her fingers were wringing together in her lap, teeth catching her bottom lip, and every couple of seconds she kept looking up at Inuyasha before quickly looking back down. Concern etches onto Kagome’s brow, and she places the marker back on the bottom of the board before going over to Inuyasha. Poking him in the side - and trying not to break her serious expression in favor of grinning when he grunts - she says, “I think you should talk to Shiori. She seems…”

His eyes look from Kagome to his student, and taking a curious sniff, Kagome watches his eyes grow soft. “Yeah.” He starts to step toward the narrow hallway, then whistles, which draws a few students’ gazes toward him. Except for Shiori. “Shiori. Come'ere.”

At hearing her name, she jumps and turns to him, eyes wide before she stood up and scooted through the other chairs in order to scurry over. His hand lands on her head, and when they disappear around the corner, Kagome smiles softly; she’s glad he dropped the tough-guy act, because it was obvious he was a sucker for their students. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have gone to bat for them so quickly with this showcase. 

_Softie_. 

Not being given a task, she waits patiently for them to return. She can vaguely hear Inuyasha sighing around the corner, his voice gruff and hesitant, but then she hears Shiori’s little shy voice thanking him profusely before dashing back in. Before she sits, and as Inuyasha comes back in with a hand rubbing behind his neck, she announces, “I’ll be singing, too!”

Curiosity killed the Kagome - when Inuyasha stops in front of the board beside her, she reaches up to write next to Shiori’s name, but Inuyasha takes it from her. ‘Singing’ he writes, but he doesn’t look like he’s finished writing. Turning away, like privacy might be what he needed, Kagome smiles at Shiori and then the rest of the class. The squeak of the marker, then the cap popping back on, fills her ears and as Inuyasha turns away from the board and moves to stand in front of the class again, she turns around and…

‘Singing w/ piano’.

Her eyes widen to the size of saucers. 

_Oh my god_. 

“Alright, runts,” he says, his tone still on the gruff side, but not unfriendly. “Now that we got that order of business outta the way … what’ya say we talk holidays? Want to do some caroling in a few months?” 

The answering cheers aren’t anywhere near as loud as the other class’ a month ago - “ _Who wants to make some noise?_ ” - but it doesn’t stop him from wincing anyway. Kagome even hears her own voice cheer, though not quite as loud, and when the children all settle and Inuyasha starts to lead them in naming their favorite carols and subsequently grunting at them not to talk all at once, Kagome’s stuck in a trance as she stares at him. 

Shiori was going to sing. And, she might be assuming, but … Inuyasha was going to … play piano for her. 

The Grinch and his three-sizes-larger heart has nothing on her own, swelling inside her chest with pride and- and _love_. Crossing her arms over her torso, she watches him interact with them, though she’s not sure what he’s saying as a voice inside her repeats his name over and over like her favorite part of her favorite song.

_Inuyasha…_

* * *

At the end of the day, Inuyasha tells her he’d wait around for ‘the old woman’ - and her complaints about his lack of manners regarding their boss fall deaf on his doggy ears - which she doesn’t argue with more than a half-hearted question of “ _Are you sure?_ ” before he shoos her off. It was just as well, since she had plans with Sango anyway. 

Sango met her by the front gate of the school, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and light fleece jacket wrapped around her form. As Kagome steps out into the October afternoon, she casts a large wave over to her friend. “Sango! Are you ready for shopping?” 

“Absolutely! Do you mind if the girls come? Miroku had to tend to a job out of town, sort of out of the blue.” 

“Absolutely,” she echoes her sentiment, smiling brightly. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop at my house and change. We can meet there! Let me give you my address…” 

After giving Sango her address and saying a temporary goodbye, Kagome exits the front gate and goes to her car. She’s looking forward to going shopping, even more to having a second woman’s opinion. Having not been on a proper _date_ in a long time, she wasn’t sure what it was she wanted to get, and they hadn’t talked about where they’d be going either, just what day. Part of her wants to demand answers, but another … she wants to be surprised, to see what he has planned. It panned out the last time. 

It’s how she got this date, for starters.

As soon as Kagome gets back to her place, she quickly drops off her messenger bag and changes into a soft pair of leggings, white thick-strapped tank top, and Inuyasha’s flannel draped on top of her, unbuttoned. Sango pulls up as soon as she gets outside and locks up her apartment. When she gets to the passenger’s seat and opens the door, two excited squeals from the backseat greet her, and she looks over the seat to flash the two girls with a smile. “Hi Yuki, hi Emi!”

“You two are only _now_ going on your first actual date and you’re wearing his shirt?” Sango quirks an eyebrow at her, her grin knowing, and as Kagome slides into the passenger’s seat and closes the door, she feels her face grow warm. “Not that I’d ever dream of teasing the same way Miroku does, but I’m beginning to see why he enjoys doing it so much.” 

“Oh, don’t you start,” Kagome covers her face with her hands, eyes wide as saucers. “Oh no, you don’t think he’s teased Inuyasha, do you?” 

At first, Sango doesn’t respond, and that makes her grumble under her breath; not that she thought he’d take it out on her or anything, but she didn’t want him to be in some sort of bad mood if Miroku was teasing him. After a while she sighs, and Sango starts to laugh. It’s a light sound, like a bell tingling in the air. “I definitely think he’s teased him. But I don’t know if he’s been told it’s you he’s going out with. I certainly didn’t want you to feel his wrath, so he didn’t hear it from me if he does know.”

Despite her previous mood, Kagome smiles at that. Sango was truly her older sister in spirit. 

“Thanks, Sa--”

“And besides,” Sango interrupts her, “Since I made sure to protect you, I expect every single detail. Not a single thing left unsaid.”

Kagome blinks, then feels a new blush take over her expression. “S-Sango!”

* * *

“What about this one?” 

Kagome looks up from where she’s standing - in front of the third colored blouse of the same style and shape, just a jump in price from the shirts next to them - to gaze at Sango, who was holding up a simple pastel-green tee shirt dress; they had driven to town and parked in front of a small diner, figuring by the time they finished their shopping around they could stop there for dinner. Emi and Yuki were playing in a rack of clothes nearby but didn’t stray far from Sango, instead peeked their heads out every once in a while before ducking back in. 

The dress was simple and pretty. As Kagome walks over to join her friend and gets a closer look, she notices it would reach just above her knees, and she gently runs her fingers over the soft material in contemplation. If she had to describe her own style, it would be simple and comfortable, pretty in its own right she supposed, and by that logic she already owned plenty of outfits that fit this same description. Shaking her head, she takes the dress back and places it back on the rack. “Something … something _more_ …”

Sango watches on patiently, despite the inability to come up with a proper descriptor. Sighing, Kagome hunches her shoulders in defeat. “I don’t- I have no idea what he has planned, so I don’t know if I’m planning for fast food or some fancy restaurant!” Tugging at her hair in a comical display before dragging her hands down her face to hug the sides of her neck. “What do I dooooo?” 

“Well, I can assure you he won’t take you somewhere with a formal dress code.” Grinning a bit, she continues on to another rack, and Kagome follows. “We’re talking about a guy who probably owns three complete outfits and his cleaning uniform. What you normally wear would probably be okay, so if we don’t find anything special today, I can help with what you’ve got in your closet.” Grumping, Kagome sighs in resignation. “And hey, worst comes to worst, you can come shopping in mine. We’re about the same size, I’d say.”

Kagome feels herself smile at that. “Thanks.” 

They walk around the clothing store for a while, picking up this and that, a dress here and skirt-blouse ensemble here, and before long Kagome’s trying on outfits and showing them off to her small audience. A few times, Sango gets up and adjusts the way a shirt falls on her shoulders or a skirt clings to her; she was taking the role of ‘best friend helping pick out proper first date outfit’ very seriously, for which Kagome was grateful. A couple times, the twins piped up with babbles of encouragement, but it wasn’t until the very last outfit that everyone went completely quiet. 

It was less simple, and Kagome didn’t remember grabbing it, though remembered the sidelong glance she had shot at it as she walked toward the dressing room. Sango must have snagged it and snuck it in her armful of clothes at some point, the sneaky woman. Kagome ran her hands over the curved line of the dress that hugged her like liquid crimson, wrapping around the curves of her hips and chest. It was strapless, which she didn’t wear often, and the red was deep and intimate. Her face flushes, and her heart pitter-patters nervously when she realizes that no one, not even herself, has said anything yet. 

Looking away from her reflection in the mirror against the wall, she turns to Sango, whose eyes widen slightly as they travel over her. 

“So, um … what do you … think?”

Sango opens her mouth to tell her, but the girls pipe up first, both enthusiastic and smiling brightly. 

“Pitty!” One, Emi she thinks, squeals excitedly. 

“Yes, baby,” Sango says, giving Kagome a brilliant, triumphant smile. “ _Very_ pretty. You’re getting that one.” 

It sounded more like an order, and despite herself, Kagome laughs brightly. “Okay.”

They don’t spend too much longer inside the shop, instead putting their focus on getting warm clothes for Emi and Yuki. Kagome picks out a small clutch with a long chain and pays for her things, then waits for Sango to buy the girls’ clothes, and the four of them make their way out into the afternoon. Each of the twins has each of the women’s hands, singing a song only they know. Sango and Kagome talk over them softly, one with a knowing grin and the other doing her best to keep her voice from becoming shrill. 

By the time Kagome got home from their girls’ afternoon, the sun was dipping behind the trees, casting the sky in bright pinks and blues. The trees in the distance looked like they were painted black, as if they blacked themselves out to draw more attention to the brilliant sunset above. Kagome sits on her front step under the outside light next to her door, taking in the quiet as the world settles after another amazing day. Her arms are perched on her bent knees, covered now in warm sweatpants while her torso is wrapped in a pullover hoodie. She wants to text Inuyasha, but not knowing what to say stops her, so she doesn’t. Instead, she wonders what tomorrow would be like and she feels excited jitters flit over her. 

It had been a while since she’d been on a proper date, and while Kagome _could_ count the outings they’d gone on before, she wasn’t sure if they would compare to this. Dates like this were normally of a more romantic setting, and every time she thinks about _that_ it’s an entirely different feeling than just ‘jitters’. 

Humming softly, she sits up and heads inside, bidding the world goodnight. 

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr! i'm cookiethewriter!


End file.
